Hannah Beevers was one of 30 merit winners in this year’s Fujifilm Student Awards.

The University of Lincoln student has been named among the country’s best young photographers in the prestigious national competition.

Photography students across the country were invited to submit images which could be used to illustrate the front cover of a new Penguin Modern Classics edition of Rachel Carson’s revolutionary work, Silent Spring.

The book, first published in 1962, was a huge factor in the establishment of the environmental movement.

Entrants were asked to shoot scenes which depicted the subject of the book – mankind’s impact on the natural environment.

Hannah (19), who is studying Media Production in the University’s Lincoln School of Media, captured a spectacular photograph of the sun setting by a sugar beet factory.

She said: “I chose to enter this image because I thought it worked extremely well with the text and also fitted well with the topic of Carson’s book.

“In the background there is a sugar beet factory and pylons, which both link to manmade devices which are affecting the environment.

“Then there is the contrast with the natural beauty in the sunset.

“I also felt the image related well to the title of the book, Silent Spring, as a sunset is silent and peaceful.”

The Fujifilm Student Awards, now in their 24th year, are the longest running and most prestigious student photography awards in the UK.

This year’s competition attracted 1,500 entries and Hannah was one of just 30 winners.

The judges were impressed by the general quality of entries.

Judge Jim Stoddart explained: “We saw stark landscapes, some fine examples of staged studio photography, abstract images and classical still-life work.

“This variety of style and subject perfectly illustrates the diversity and creativity of the UK's photography students.”

The winners each receive 10 rolls of Fujicolor professional colour negative film, a Penguin Classic of their choice and a copy of The Language of Things, a book about the history of design.