A CAUSE FOR CELEBRATION

IOS/First Direct Photo competition winners

Here are the winners, and a few of the runners-up, of the second Independent on Sunday/First Direct photography competition. To mark the millennium and the 10th anniversary of First Direct, the theme was celebration, and this year we had three categories (professional, amateur and under- 18s), with prize money totalling almost pounds 15,000. We stipulated that all pictures be in black-and-white, apart from those entered in the under- 18s category. We received more than a thousand photographs, and the entries were of an extremely high standard, especially in the amateur category. The judges were impressed by the freshness and range of the images: celebration was variously represented as poignant, comic, joyous or triumphant. The winning pictures were chosen as much for their emotional force as their technical merit.

These pictures, with the other runners-up, can be seen on First Direct's website at www.firstdirect.co.uk

FIRST PRIZE, PROFESSIONAL: SAM TANNER Prize: pounds 5,000 plus a paid assignment for the Independent on Sunday

Commissioned by the Church Urban Fund, a charity, this picture shows a Church of England deacon greeting a Hindu woman. It was taken in Leamington Spa. `I feel it captures the joy of the two women perfectly,' says Sam Tanner.

THIRD PRIZE, AMATEUR: DAVID JENKINS Prize: pounds 500

On holiday in Morocco, David Jenkins joined in with these boys playing football on the beach and took pictures as he ran alongside them. `I think as we near the new millennium we are all technology-mad,' he says, `but I interpret this picture as being about stepping back and realising that it's all just a game that we should enjoy.'

FIRST PRIZE, UNDER-18s: ISABELLA PANATTONI Prize: a personal computer Age: 16

This picture was taken at the Glastonbury festival last year. `I saw these two girls dancing in the mud, smiling away,' says Isabella Panattoni. `To me it epitomises the festival, and is a celebration of life, mud and music.'

THIRD PRIZE, UNDER-18s: CHARLOTTE HANDS-WICKS & NATALIE BURNS SPENCE Prize: pounds 50 Ages: 17

Taken by Charlotte in her back garden on the night of the Manchester United/ Bayern Munich game, and printed by Natalie. The boys are Charlotte's brother, Mikey (right), and his friend, Ben, who is holding a trophy he won as man of the match earlier that day.

SECOND PRIZE, AMATEUR: CAROLINE MANNION Prize: pounds 1,500

The photographer's niece, Emma, on her second birthday. `She is a very expressive child,' says Caroline Mannion, `and I wanted to capture the great enthusiasm she has. I also wanted the picture to be partly from her perspective, which is why the cake is foregrounded and the candles, which she was so enjoying blowing out, are still smoking.'

FIRST PRIZE, AMATEUR: TRACEY CLARK Prize: pounds 5,000 plus a paid photographic assignment for the Independent on Sunday

Entitled `Sid's First Hold', this photograph shows Tracey Clark's great- uncle, who had no children of his own, holding her son for the first time. `Trust, respect and love are the essence of the image,' she says. Sid had never held a baby before.

RUNNER-UP, AMATEUR: LINA AHNOFF

The photograph was taken at the Blackpool carnival last August, on the bus that won the Best-Dressed Vehicle prize. Lina Ahnoff is Danish, and her picture was taken as part of a project on Englishness. `I like the way that reality has been dressed up for the picture,' she says, `and the way that the celebration is tinged with sadness because the people don't seem entirely aware of what is happening.'

RUNNER-UP, AMATEUR: PETER HAMILTON

This picture is part of a photographic project on Trafalgar Square that Peter Hamilton has been working on for two-and-a-half years. `It's about celebration, joy and multiculturalism, with members of the Jewish community who probably don't come down from north London very often'

SECOND PRIZE, UNDER-18s (left): RUPERT BURTON Prize: a camera Age: 16

Rupert Burton photographed his friends jumping in the pool on holiday in the south of France. `I was happiest with this one of Katie being lifted up by her brother, which I thought had a really happy feel.'

RUNNER-UP, AMATEUR (right): COLIN SIMPSON

This picture was taken in a laundrette in Springbourne, Bournemouth. `The dog's name is Joey,' says Colin Simpson, `and he's just a naturally crazy dog. The boxer shorts are his owner's. It was exactly the shot I was after - I was lucky.'

SECOND PRIZE, PROFESSIONAL (above): MAGDA SEGAL Prize: pounds 1,500

Magda Segal was photographing the woman on the right as part of a women's health study in Southampton, when her sister came round for a visit. `The young boy was excited to see his aunt,' she says, `and ran up for a hug.'

THIRD PRIZE, PROFESSIONAL (right): ROBERT FULLER Prize: pounds 500

Robert Fuller took this picture especially for the competition, using a model. `When I think of celebration I see people jumping and punching the air,' he says. `I pictured the image before I took the photograph, as I always do.'