FRESHFACED + WILDEYED 2015

Twenty-five emerging photographers and artists have been selected from an open submission process. They were chosen by a judging panel of photography experts: Kate Cooper, Auto Italia, A K Dolven, artist and photographer, Damien Poulain, Oodee Books and Brett Rogers, Director, The Photographers’ Gallery. The finalists have all graduated in the past year from BA and MA visual arts courses across the UK with photography and/or digital media forming the main component of their practice.

William Aston and Emma Gruner look at self-expression and the representation of sexuality and identity within the digital world. Artist duo blør, Alex Burgess and Mandukhai Kaylin employ strategies of digital manipulation to explore the relationship between the real and the virtual. Francesca Jane Allen’s diaristic images depict adolescent girls as they transition into womanhood while Jocelyn Allen challenges female stereotypes through portraits of her naked body presented as a genderless contorted form. Craig Gibson documents the ritual of adult baptism while Dominic Hawgood’s images look at trends within evangelical Christianity popular amongst African communities in London. James BellandCharan Singh both use portraiture to represent vulnerable communities: Bell of street hustlers and vendors in Barbados and Singh of gay men in India.

Using images, videos, graphics and testimonials Aida Silvestri and Jonathan Simpson depict the journeys, personal experiences and exploitation of Eritrean refugees coming into the UK and Bangladeshi economic migrants in Singapore. Issues of parenting are presented in Sian Davey’s photographs of her three years-old daughter who was born with Down’s Syndrome and in Tanya Zommer’s filmdocumenting her and her partner’s emotional journey as they await the birth of their child through surrogacy. Marcus Boyle’s film questions the blurring of boundaries of consent, ethics and morality between artists and their subjects. Coco Capitán portrays the relationship between Chinese communities and outsiders while Paul Hutchinson looks at Hip Hop culture in Germany. Alexandra Lethbridge’s archive of her search for meteorites and their origin sets out to challenge preconceptions of our surroundings

Liz Orton draws on visual references from survival manuals, field guides and museum catalogues to reflect on our irrevocable and destructive entanglement with nature. Jill Quigley’sphotographs depict her colourful and playful interventions in abandoned Irish cottages. Rebecca Scheinberg uses photographic aesthetics borrowed from advertising and consumer culture that allude to the darker narratives at play behind the glossy imagery. Wilf Speller’s video focuses on mobile phone footage captured and circulated online from war torn countries, specifically Syria.Alexandra Vacaroiu’s projectexamines the potential benefits of photography on patients living with Alzheimer’s. Betty Laura Zapata’s project uncovers the severe failings of Venezuela’s healthcare system within hospitals.