If an epiphany is a sudden, powerful, spiritual or life-changing realisation that a person experiences in an otherwise ordinary moment, then that may be what I experienced in May 2014 at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh when I viewed the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portraiture Prize 2013 exhibition concluding in Edinburgh that weekend. I had visited the 2012 exhibition in London the year before and was smitten with the desire to enter the competition.
My reason for the first visit was to further my research into portraiture as I was studying for an MA in Photography at the University of Sunderland at the time and was drawn more and more to completing a project that involved representations of women of my age.  I found inspiration from the direct viewing of the work of other artists and on my second visit, I thought, ‘wouldn’t it be amazing to see my portrait of Kathryn here’.
Edinburgh provided the inspiration to enter the 2014 competition with a portrait of my Scottish friend, photographed with the iconic Forth Bridge behind her.  I was totally amazed to find that it was shortlisted in the 60 portraits that make up the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portraiture Prize 2014, currently showing at the National Portrait Gallery in London. The competition had 4193 portraits entered by over 1000 international photographers.
IThe photo is from my MA series entitled ‘Now You See Me …’ which is about women over 50 years of age and the invisibility, negativity, or discrimination many feel or experience in this life stage. It is about using photographs as metaphors, celebrating the intrinsic worth of older women and combating negative stereotypes of ageing. I photographed family and friends, some from Scotland and London but most from around the North East.  I hope to continue to build this portfolio, so if you are over fifty and know me, watch out, I might be asking you or you could volunteer.
For me, having achieved the MA Photography was the fulfillment of a dream in itself and this accolade is the icing on the cake!  It is an amazing thing and something I could never have envisaged would happen.  The idea to photograph ‘In Our Image’ in 2009 came about in a similarly inspired way and both experiences show that it is worth following a dream or an idea; it’s never too late and can be better late than never to learn a new skill or have a go at something that really interests us and may seem out of reach. Elaine exhibited at the Greenfield Gallery, Newton Aycliffe 2010 and will be exhibiting the selected portrait and other work at the Greenfield Gallery, Newton Aycliffe 2015.