Lucy takes heart from photo finish

TALENTED . . . Lucy Ireland

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A PICTURE certainly paints a thousand words for talented teenager Lucy Ireland.

The 15-year-old, from Delph, beat over 600 entries from across the UK to scoop a top honour in the British Heart Foundation’s Red for Heart photography competition.

Lucy’s image “Paint” took second place in the junior category of the competition which had to depict “what the heart means to you”.

With just one rule to incorporate red somewhere in the digital shot, Lucy chose to photograph a squeezed-out tube of red paint.

“The image represents new life and hope,” explained Lucy.

“The paint tube representing the heart and the paint being hope. The paint tube is useless without the paint, much like a heart is useless without hope and love.

“For many of the people that have used the British Heart Foundation, it has given them hope and a new chance to love and paint their future once again.”

The judging panel included features editor at Amateur Photographer magazine, Gemma Padley, picture editor for the Independent on Sunday, Sophie Batterbury, professional photographer John Angerson and Tom Hind, Head of Content APAC and Europe Getty Images.

Commenting on Lucy’s entry, Mr Hind said: “This is a technically difficult shot for a junior photographer with good use of light and composition.”

Lucy said she was thrilled with her accolade, especially considering the pedigree of the judges.

“It was an honour to have my entry judged by such a highly-esteemed panel and I’m even more pleased that they placed me,” she said.

“The competition is a great way of raising awareness and vital funds for the BHF.”

As well as winning a host of photographic prizes, Lucy’s image will appear in BHF shops across the UK and a selection of winning shots will appear in the Independent on Sunday.