Steve Smith FRPS has won the prestigious Association of Photographers 2011 Best in Show Award for his photograph Rocketman at the AOP 2011 Open Awards. Steve sits on The Society's Visual Art distinction panel.

The AOP Open is in its 11th year and is the only AOP competition where professionals and amateurs compete on equal terms. There are no categories or themes in this competition so the choice of work submitted was entirely up to the photographer.

The 2011 competition saw an impressive 1535 entries by 545 individuals, so there was a lot of competition to make it through to this year's final exhibition of 66 images. The winners can be seen here

Steve's picture was taken at "Las Parrandos de Remedios" Cuba at the start of the celebrations when volleys of rockets are sent into the air at the start of the annual Christmas celebrations. The image formed part of an exhibition held within the Parrandos Museum, Remedios last year, he hopes to return there next year to carry on with his Cuban project. Two other projects are in the pipeline for 2012, both will be closer to home and both will be a social documentary of life in one of the poorest regions of the UK contrasting that of life elsewhere.

The Society congratulates Steve on his success.