RICOH GR is proud to announce sponsorship of The 5th SPi Awards from Street Photography International.
Since 1996, the mission of GR is to be “always in the heart Photography”. During this time, we have continually made it our mission to produce the most powerful camera to have with you – and today, thanks to the large image sensor, and combined with compact size, this is made possible with the RICOH GR.
For this reason, it has been a popular choice amongst street photographers, with the minimalistic design, discreetly disguising a powerful imaging tool. We often get feedback that subjects respond a lot differently when faced with a seemingly understated compact camera, when compared to looking down the lens of an overpowering DSLR. Especially with a 28mm lens, where photographers are able to get close up on the action to achieve great results.
Casting our minds back to February 2019 we announced our most powerful premium compact to date – the RICOH GR III. It was received so well that we had a lot of activities planned to arrange meet-ups and photo walks – then lockdown happened. These unprecedented times had a huge impact globally with all events cancelled and restrictions on when we were allowed to leave our homes – something in which no one would have ever envisioned.
In turn, this also had a big impact on photography; we could no longer go out and capture images in the way that we did before, and even if we did go out there were limitations on what we could shoot – with empty streets, not the hustle and bustle of the busy city life that create those unrepeatable and fleeting moments. We were stuck taking pictures around the house – and even resorted to taking photos on popular video games!
It was at this time that we first began discussions with Street Photography International, a collective of street photographers who capture and share the fleeting moments of the world around us through the medium of candid, natural photography. They are well recognised within the photography community, and have gained a substantial following on Instagram - @streetphotographyinternational
They were in their 4th Year of the SPi Awards and had an opportunity for collaboration. The partnership was perfectly aligned through the love of street photography and so the agreement was made to sponsor the awards. From the previous entries, we could see an enormous pool of talent within the community and so in order to support this, we offered the winner and 15 finalists each a RICOH GR III Street Edition, providing them with an additional tool to continue to build on the strength of their portfolios. Here again, Street Photography International and RICOH GR were aligned with the aim of showcasing the work of the photographer.
In addition to this, once the winner and finalists received there cameras, they were asked if they would like to participate in the ‘GR Challenge’ featured on the @ricoh_gr_photography Instagram page. We were delighted with the high level of interest and please to see the high level of talent of the photographers that completed the challenge. Seeing the images captured by the photographers give us the motivation to continue to improve our products – with the aim to be the most powerful camera that fit in your pocket.
Together with the launch of the RICOH GR IIIx Urban Edition Special Limited Kit, we are delighted to announce that RICOH GR with be sponsoring The 5th SPi Awards and present this feature video of Alan Schaller and Walter Rothwell discussing their passion for Street Photography.
