NPG are right

I love this photograph but does not mean that I condone hunting.

Nothing wrong

Nothing wrong with this photo and nothing wrong with hunting. If you eat/consume the animal afterwards. Don't you think it's even more strange not to know where you chickens came from in the supermarkets?

The Deerhunted!

It's a wonderful evocative photograph and a well deserving winner. As for the critics, get a life!

Mixed Feelings

I have mixed feelings about this photograph. It is a great image, well taken and I like the girl's expression and demeanour. However, I am not a fan of this kind of hunting which is not really about food these days which is plentiful enough in the supermarkets. Of course animals are killed every day for food but this is claimed to be a 'sport'. Is it?

Great image

I think it's a quite beautiful photograph and of a different way of life, and certainly not the usual Africa shot.

Does what it says on the tin

It's a portrait of a hunter, not an advert for hunting. It does what photography does best; presenting the viewer with a perhaps unfamiliar subject without attaching any notion of right or wrong, and leaving them to make up their own mind - and unlike the other recent "controversial" image, the winner of the BJP's International Photography Award, it has a more obvious aesthetic quality. I just can't see the problem here.

Those complaining would seem to be suggesting that 'dodgy' subjects are not shown at all, just kept out of sight in the hope that no one will be influenced to sudden approval. Very wet, New Labour style Nannyist thinking of the type that seems to be blunting the edge of photojournalism these days.

Great image, good choice for winner.

Well ...

According to Chancellor, the image shows Josie Slaughter, from Alabama, on her first hunting trip to South Africa with her family.

"Josie had hunted her buck earlier in the day and was returning to camp. As we arrived, the sun set below the cloud cover and I had almost unreal light for around a minute. The contrast between the peace and tranquility of the location, plus Josie's ethereal beauty and the dead buck, was what I wanted to explore. Here was a vulnerability and yet also a strength."

So that's the justification for the image - all very poetic. I wonder what the justification for the pointless slaughter was - no pun intended. Hardly surprising some were offended.

That apart, the image, little more than a trophy shot that speaks of an imperialistic past, really isn't that impressive - a bigger buck or a smaller girl might have worked.

The wider project is the problem

Even though this is an incredibly beautiful portrait, the wider project is what disturbs me most. Hunters posing with a dead leopard, a dead lynx, waiting in trees for their prey to come along, all so cowardly with their long range shotguns. These people aren't 'adapting to their environments,' it's just an excuse for a barbaric sport and the chance to have a modern day egotistical portrait of themselves. The human race sinks to an even lower level...

Let's all hide behind artistry and avoid reality

Lovely light, yes, dramatic looking subject yes. I agree with everything the judges said, but that doesn't excuse the fact its a shot that belongs in the past. There's no justification for the hunt nor the image. Take the dead animal away and you still have lovely light and a dramatic subject.

By giving the picture credibility you give the act of hunting credibility and the judges can stand behind a shield of Artistic license if they like, but it doesn't hide the fact the picture promotes hunting as a sport.

How Differently We View

I rescued the image from firelighting So captivated was I by the beauty and disturbingly complex mix of visual messages.
Beguiling young girl carrying with her on horseback the deer she has killed. Then I read the damming diatribe by review writer. What an incredible image - that we could have such diametrically opposite responces.

strong photo

Someone made the point about chickens and eating them. I fail to see the difference between slaughtering hundreds of thousands of cattle for burgers and the clean kill of a deer for eating. That there should be objections to a very good photo is a sad reflection on how far removed from nature mankind has become.

Is this the best?

This is obviously a strong shot, but as a winning portrait I think the lighting of the face is flat. Also the composition is flawed with the horse's head too close to the left edge, and a redundant area at its back end.
I,m a bit suspicious about the "Josie had hunted her buck earlier in the day" bit as well. Aren't these animals gutted straight off. And how the heck is she supposed to ride that horse with the reins stuck under the carcass?

winner - what's wrong with this picture

nothing wrong with the picture at all
If you don't have a Sainsbury on the doorstep you go out and bring the meat in
yourself.
But there is something wrong with the shot
the girl could not control the horse as the dead animal is on top of her reigns

storm in a teacup...

media created furore. much ado about nothing. people have nothing better to do. move along folks, nothing to see.

How many of the moaners have actually seen the exhibition?

Views on hunting have nothing to do with views on photography. A photograph should be judged on its own merit. I visited the exhibition on Tuesday and think the winning photograph is stunning, even though it is not my favourite image of those on display. As for hunting, make it legal again ASAP and then perhaps less foxes will be around to kill the chickens on our allotment. Unless you are vegetarian or a socialist (and remember even these unfortunate disabilities can be cured) please stop moaning about killing animals in a forum which is, after all, about photography. I would never use it to declare that I am pro hunting.

Buck shot is samo

A simple lighting effect such as is always used on the X-files programmes: - Orange against Blue - Against the Blue distance is the Orange of Red hair on human and horse and impala and the sunset effect. Otherwise it's a white youth proudly dominating the scene. Invisible blacks. Wonderfully privileged youth. Very reassuring that in spite of changes in Alabama and South Africa that same class is a class apart, treasured by commercial photographers. Well done?