Pakenham professional photographer picks up second award in a year

Professional photographer Alex Kilbee’s portraiture has just won him a second national award in a year.

His Muse Portraits won the MPA/Olympus Portrait Photographer of the Year 2014 only about a year after he opened his studio in Pakenham and has now won the open portrait category of the first Xperience Awards with a picture of George Eboma from Bury St Edmunds.

Alex said: “The portrait of George was created in our signature Essence style and it’s always amazing to see the response people have to his photograph.

“To have this image win a prestigious national award is the icing on the cake”

Alex has been a professional photographer for 20 years, having studied photography in South Africa. He returned from there in 2008 and specialised in wedding photography until opening the studio.

Mark Cleghorn, Xperience Training director, developed the awards to challenge members of his Xperience Group of almost 40 photographic studios across England, Scotland and Wales, and to make the photographers ‘step outside their comfort zones’.

Mark said: “With digital cameras and smartphones making photography more accessible it is more important than ever that professional photographers work as hard as they can for their customers to create the incredible images they deserve.

“I was blown away by the standard of entries. Alex’s winning portrait brought a haunting and soulful expression to the competition in a true timeless style”

More of Alex’s work can be seen at www.theinspirationisyou.co.uk