In 2020 the International Photography Awards received a total of 13,000 entries from 120 countries and is pleased to declare that Mark Purdom was awarded Honorable Mention in the professional category for his series 'Playground'.
Artist statement -
The series Playground looks at children's play spaces and explores the notion - if we make these spaces too "safe" are we actually developing our children's ability to manage risk themselves.
“I am convinced that standardised play equipment is dangerous. When the distance between all the rungs on the climbing net or the ladder is exactly the same, the child has no need to concentrate on where he puts his feet. This lesson cannot be carried over into all the knobbly and asymmetrical forms with which one is confronted throughout life.”
Helle Nebelong Danish landscape architect quoted in Growing Adventure; Final Report to the Forestry Commission UK. Tim Gill, March 2006.