The British Life Photography Awards (BLPA) celebrate and showcase the work of both professional and amateur photographers throughout the UK who seek to capture the essence and spirit of British life. Covering everything from street life, rural life and portraiture through to the British weather and Brits on holiday, there is also a special award for the best documentary feature and another for Young Photographer of the Year. Published to coincide with a prestigious exhibition at the Mall Galleries in London, the book brings together some of the very best work that was entered for the 2015 BLPA competition. It includes a wide cross section of both photographers and of subjects, and documents real life through original, illuminating and thought provoking imagery. Sometimes humorous, other times poignant, the photographs are a wonderful celebration of British life and culture. Documenting daily life has been an established photographic tradition for over a century, and just like the great documentary photographers of the past (and present), the Awards encourage photographers to elevate the commonplace and familiar into something compelling or fascinating through the craft, creativity and discipline of photography – whether a personal vision, an intimate portrait, a visual pun or a sequence of innovative images telling a story. The Awards are sponsored by SONY and Kristal Digital Imaging Centre, and supported by Time Out and Country Life and the images in both the book and the exhibition are selected from literally thousands of submissions by a jury comprising leading industry professionals with wide-ranging experience. The book is introduced by Magnum photographer Chris Steele-Perkins, who also served on this year’s jury.