Leo Burnett Launches Photography Prize Campaign

Rankin, Martin Parr and Robert Wilson are among the famous photographers sharing the stories behind some of their iconic photos to raise awareness for The Renaissance Photography Prize – an annual competition which raises money for charity.

Several top photographers, also including Nadav Kander, Uli Weber, Dianna Scheunemann, Perou and Chris Floyd, are posting their photos and stories online in aid of the international photography contest which raises money for young women with breast cancer.

The campaign, devised by Leo Burnett, centres around the message: “If it’s worth taking, it’s worth entering”. The photographers will upload posts on Twitter and Facebook revealing how they managed to get their celebrated shots using #worthtaking.

Perou’s selected image is of American singer, actress and artist, Courtney Love.

Of the shot, he says: “Courtney suddenly takes me by the hand and drags me into her own dressing room. She takes off all her clothes and dives into a bag, where she pulls out two pink bras. 'Which one?' she says. 'Err, the pink one', I go. 'Put it on', says Courtney, pushing her chest towards me. And I dutifully help her put on a pink bra. 'Take a picture of me pissing on the toilet', Courtney shouts. 'Do it tastefully'.

“I'm shooting on a medium format camera without autofocus, I've shot six rolls but I'm not sure if she's in a single frame. I worry.”

Wilson’s selected photograph is a close-up of a soldier’s face.

“From our elevated position looking south, I was told that the Taliban positions were just 400 metres away. In months of fighting they had been pushed back no more than about 200 metres. In front of me was the landscape, referred to as No Man's Land,” Wilson explains.

“Amongst the Gurkha unit that was manning the fort, one face stood out. His was a face I knew. A very English looking face, a few years junior of me, but with an expression a lot older. The constant stress of the fight was etched into every wrinkle of his sand-blasted face.”

Other shots include Weber’s image of a famous wall, seen in the film The King’s Speech, and an image of the Queen taken by Rankin to commemorate her Golden Jubilee.