A PORTRAIT featuring some of Bradford’s notable women has been named as a winner in this year’s Portrait of Britain competition.

Phoenix Women - 100 Years On is a reimagining of an oil painting made in 1918 by Flora Lions titled, Women’s Canteen at Phoenix Works, Bradford.

That painting, commissioned by the Ministry of Information, captured the efforts of women during the Great War.

The photograph taken 100 years on was designed to show the progress women have made in the past century, and features business leaders, Councillors, an MP and the first female leader of Bradford Council.

It also features women doing some of the key roles which keep the nation going, such as a midwife, bus driver, police officer and sports stars.

Taken by Carolyn Mendelsohn, the photograph was submitted to the British Journal of Photography’s Portrait of Britain, and was yesterday revealed as a winner of the competition.

Ms Mendelsohn was recruited by Artworks Creative Communities to take the photo, which organised the portrait and invited women to take part.

Deb Collett, project coordinator at Artworks Creative Communities, said: “We had been celebrating 100 years since some women got the vote, but the women depicted in the Phoenix Canteen would have been too young and too poor to exercise that hard fought for right.

“Our project pays homage to those women and shows how far we have come.

“Enormous thanks, gratitude and congratulations to Carolyn; the reinterpreted and rejuvenated image she so painstakingly created simply glows with energy and sisterhood.

“A contemporary picture that pays homage to the past, combining skill and beauty with a participatory arts project – that’s Bradford creativity.”

Winning photographer Carolyn Mendelsohn added: “I am overwhelmed and delighted the picture has been selected as one of the winners.

“I certainly wasn’t expecting it. It feels wonderful that these real Bradford women are going to be celebrated in this way.

“I believe the photographic tableaux really does reflect the diversity and vibrancy of Britain today.”

The photo will now feature on JCDecaux digital screens the length and breadth of the country - including in the Broadway centre - alongside the 99 other winning entries, and will also be included in the Portrait of Britain book.

Simon Bainbridge, editorial director of the British Journal of Photography, said: “With the return of Portrait of Britain, the question of national identity has never seemed so loaded.

“Facing a divided nation, Portrait of Britain aims to frame these questions of identity differently, looking at who we are as a nation of individuals, apart from the politics of division.”