With images that capture and hold the viewer’s attention, Simon Harsent’s body of work is sublime. This year, the talented photographer snapped up first place in the Hotshop Photography category.

As one of the world’s most awarded photographers, Harsent’s work has won him numerous national and international advertising awards at festivals including Cannes, The One Show, MADC, Clio, D&AD and London International.

In 2009 alone he took home two Silvers and three Bronze Awards at AWARD for his work with client WWF, which this year’s Hotshop judges described as “clearly award-winning work”. Harsent also secured two Silvers at the MADC for his stunning photography on a Victorian Tourism campaign.

Once again, Harsent’s work was included in Lürzer’s Archive 200 Best Ad Photographers, and his work was selected for the prestigious Px3 Water Exhibition, a touring exhibition that takes place in New York and Paris each year.

The year before, he was awarded Photographer of the Year at the Hall of Fame Awards, held in Singapore, for his work on Levi's.

Born in England, Harsent studied photography at Watford College and assisted some of London’s top photographers before moving to Australia in 1988. He now divides his time between New York and Sydney.

Harsent’s work has also been featured in many publications such as Archive, Communication Arts, Capture, Graphis, Photo, The D&AD Art Direction book and Photo District News.

Some his clients include Jeep, Olympus, BMW, Mercedes, Levi’s, PlayStation. Heineken, United Airlines and WWF.

Harsent latest personal project titled ‘Melt: Portrait of an Iceberg’, is a study of icebergs situated off the coasts of both Newfoundland and Greenland. It’s a collection of images taken over two trips to the Arctic, with touring exhibitions of the work displayed in Canada and Sydney.

This year’s judges were particularly impressed by Harsent’s iceberg portraits, and described it as work that incorporated a powerful use of lighting and framing.

Finalists:

Georges Antoni

Sean Izzard