'OPEN' category

Clickit! has been running as a photographic project since 2000 and was launched to mark the turn of the millenium.  This project realised an on-line gallery of over 7,500 images and a popular touring exhibition all related to same 150 square miles of land known as Charnwood in the East Midlands of England. From this first Clickit! more projects, competitions and exhibitions grew and eventually the Pixel and Grain Gallery was born!
 
Pixel and Grain now runs international photography competitions on an annual basis and the Clickit! Open is one of the three over the last year. The list of countries from which we receive entries is impressive and it is truly a world-wide photographic arts event.
 
The entries for the Clickit! Open this year presented the hardest task for our judges yet. It is true that a number of entrants from past years have gone on to enlarge their mark upon the world of photography. However, this year the quality and diversity of work we received was truly astounding. It is not always the big and bold, the punchy image or the technically perfect picture which comes first in a Clickit! competition. We are not driven by or concerned with commercial issues like many magazine based competitions. We can step back and look deeper and consider the subtleties and wider qualities of what we are looking at.
 
Image making is constantly reaching new heights and the communities of photographers connected through the Web and meeting together internationally is truly phenomenal. It is with great joy and enthusiasm that we present a small selection of this work through this exhibition. We hope you will take the time to search out other work by these artists, for whilst a single image may make an impact, as with all photographers, it is the sum body of their work which really matters.
 
Kevin Ryan FRSA - Charnwood Arts