Cassandra Jones with her Cosmos Awards winning photo "Just Because She Carries It Well Doesn't Mean It Isn't Heavy (love and rage)" Photo Credit: Noelle Mirabella Photography

By Shane Clausing

cosmos awards

Grande Prairie photographer Cassandra Jones wins “grand award” at 2021 Cosmos Awards

May 7, 2021 | 1:47 PM

Grande Prairie photographer Cassandra Jones has won another international award.

Jones’ picture titled Just Because She Carries It Well Doesn’t Mean It Isn’t Heavy (love and rage) was named the winner of the “grand award” in the portrait category at the 2021 Cosmos Awards.

Jones was named one of five grand award winners in the competition.

The Cosmos Awards are an international competition that sees some of the best photographers in the world submit their work in different categories and has it critiqued by 46 world-class judges.

This year, 2,319 people participated in the competition from 190 different countries.

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Jones tells EverythingGP she was surprised to win this award.

“It (the competition) had three different trimesters. I actually missed the first trimester, and the judges accumulate your scores throughout the three trimesters. I was really surprised to win,” admitted Jones. “The fact that I ranked higher than people who did all three trimesters was pretty amazing.”

“There is so much talent out there and there are so many incredible artists that when I place top in a category, it’s always a huge honour.”

Jones says the image has really had an impact on many people and is something most can relate to it.

“The image was based on my experience as a young woman, being a young single mother. It is something that has resonated with people around the world and it’s reached millions of people so far.”

Her photo was also awarded first place at the Portrait Masters in the Creative category and it was named the overall Grand Champion for the entire competition in April 2020.

This was the first time Jones entered this competition. The award was announced on the morning of May 7 on the Cosmos Awards Facebook page.

During the Facebook stream, Jones gave a speech thanking everyone.

“This image is one of my most special and treasured images that I’ve ever created. It is just the perfect reminder of how we can use our voice in photography to change the world we live in and connect with the people around us and tell stories that have meaning and impact. The fact that you recognized this story in this image means the world to me and I just wanted to say thank you.”

FROM 2020: Local photographer picks up several international photography awards