Milton Keynes woman who takes pictures of people she meets in local park wins national photography competition

A Milton Keynes photographer has won a prestigious national competition with her portraits of people she has taken in her local park.

Ruth Toda-Nation has been taking her camera to Stanton Low park for the past three years as part of her ongoing documentary project.

She chats to people she meets and, with their permission, takes their photographs. The people range from dog walkers to a mum-of-seven who lives in a boat.

"They all have a different story to tell but share the common purpose of enjoying the green space,” said Ruth, who lives in New Bradwell.

Her portrait of ‘Lana’, a young woman sitting peacefully on the grass by the river, has now been selected by the British Journal of Photography as a winning image in their Portrait of Britain award.

Another, showing Rodney the dog with his owner Peter, was shortlisted for the award.

Both are now published in The Portrait of Britain Volume 6 book and the winning photos are also being displayed around the UK on @jcdecaux_uk screens.

The Portrait of Britain is an annual award run by British Journal of Photography. It is the UK’s biggest annual photography exhibition, with thousands of entries being submitted from across the UK. Its purpose is to celebrate the unity and diversity found in the many faces of modern Britain today.

Ruth is locally known for her thought-provoking and intimate stories from her life and local community. Another of her ongoing series documents her 93-year-old father and his friend in their retirement community in Newport Pagnell and this has garnered quite a following on Instagram.

The project was started during the Covid pandemic and features photos, reflections and life stories of the elderly residents in their gardens.

This work was selected as a winner in The Royal Photographic Society’s biennial Documentary Photography Awards, which will be touring the UK as a public exhibition starting in May.

It has now been published as a book, called Our Lockdown Garden, and is available to purchase from The Mindful Editions website here.