Benson clicks with young photographer

ACCLAIMED Scots photographer Harry Benson will help oversee a portrait shot of the Queen to hang in the Scottish Parliament.

Photography graduate Shaun Murawski from Glasgow was chosen from a shortlist of five promising young photographers to take the portrait. Mr Benson, who has photographed Martin Luther King, Winston Churchill, Barack Obama and The Beatles, will act as mentor before and during the royal photo shoot.

All five finalists were invited to the parliament last Friday to give a 20-minute presentation on how they would tackle the photoshoot and show the seven-strong panel of judges various examples of their work to date. Mr Benson took part in the process via a video link from the US, where he is based.

All higher education establishments across Scotland which run photography courses were invited to nominate two graduates for the honour of photographing the Queen.

The other finalists, who all graduated within the last four years, were Julie Tinton, Sylwia Kowalczyk and Chris Park, all from Edinburgh, and Carolyn Scott from Fife.

Holyrood bosses agreed in January to commission the portrait in response to a call from Tory MSP Murdo Fraser. The photo will go on display in a public area of the parliament.