The Young Railway Photographer of the Year

The Young Railway Photographer of the Year Competition (YRPOTY) was conceived during the 2018 Rail Cameramen exhibition held for several weeks by courtesy of the NRM at Locomotion, Shildon . It featured work by members of the Railway Photographic Society  and which was also used in two volumes of The Photographic Artistry of Rail Cameramen published by Silver Link . The need to encourage younger blood was apparent and it was felt that having a competition could well achieve this. The ethos of the RPS is to produce ‘proper’ prints which enable members time to comment and give constructive criticism to other members’ work rather than use digital imagery used frequently these days.

The feedback from visitors to that display was such that the NRM was keen to support the proposed YRPOTY Competition which was in line with its objectives and hence since then  the RPS has been pleased to work closely again with the Museum as its chosen partner on the arrangements for what has become a successful competition. The winning entries plus a selection of work from the runners up have been displayed at York, Shildon and at various Network Rail stations…and even at the 2025 UK Trade Fair in 2025 in Osaka, Japan!

This collaboration has proved very successful and we continue to work with the NRM which also has the collections of several RPS members within its archive.

The RPS has Registered the YRPOTY Competition and its logo as its Intellectual Property.