The British Journal of Photography

24/06/2025

Portrait of Britain Vol. 8 closes in just a few weeks! Here’s what last year’s shortlisted and winning photographers told us about their experience:⁠
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⭐ “I felt an enormous sense of pride and great joy to see my work included in the Portrait of Britain book” - Ben Hickling, Portrait of Britain Vol. 7 Shortlist⁠
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⭐ “Being shortlisted for Portrait of Britain has been the highlight of my career” - Vladimir Studenic, Portrait of Britain Vol. 7 Shortlist⁠
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⭐ “Having my work selected as a Portrait of Britain winner is huge. It’s such a fun experience seeing your work everywhere” - Andrea Thomson, Portrait of Britain Vol. 7 Winner⁠
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⭐ “Winning Portrait of Britain meant everything to me! It showed that working on personal projects is worth it and that one should never stop working towards goals.” - Dunja Opalko , Portrait of Britain Vol. 7 Winner⁠
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Don’t miss the chance to be among this year’s 100 winning photographers whose work will be displayed in a month-long exhibition on ​ screens, or the 200 shortlisted images published in the dedicated photobook.⁠
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Make sure to unlock free entry to this and all of our awards by becoming a Digital Access or Full Access Member. Enter now: https://1854.photo/3HXOjIN
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Deadline: 15 July 2025, 23:59 UK time. ⁠
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📷️: Shahid Bashir, Portrait of Britain Vol. 7 Shortlist

24/06/2025

Portrait of Britain Vol. 8 closes in just a few weeks! Here’s what last year’s shortlisted and winning photographers told us about their experience:

⭐“I felt an enormous sense of pride and great joy to see my work included in the Portrait of Britain book” - Ben Hickling, Portrait of Britain Vol. 7 Shortlist

⭐“Being shortlisted for Portrait of Britain has been the highlight of my career” - Vladimir Studenic, Portrait of Britain Vol. 7 Shortlist

⭐“Having my work selected as a Portrait of Britain winner is huge. It’s such a fun experience seeing your work everywhere” - Andrea Thomson, Portrait of Britain Vol. 7 Winner

⭐“Winning Portrait of Britain meant everything to me! It showed that working on personal projects is worth it and that one should never stop working towards goals.” - Dunja Opalko , Portrait of Britain Vol. 7 Winner

Don’t miss the chance to be among this year’s 100 winning photographers whose work will be displayed in a month-long exhibition on JCDecaux UK​ screens, or the 200 shortlisted images published in the dedicated photobook.

Make sure to unlock free entry to this and all of our awards by becoming a Digital Access or Full Access Member. Enter now: http://1854.photo/3HXOjIN

Deadline: 15 July 2025, 23:59 UK time.

23/06/2025

Photofusion was part of a radical moment in photography. Founded in 1990 and located in Brixton, south-east London, it was in an area renowned for alternative living, home to collectives, squats and initiatives such as Autograph, set up in 1988 as the Association of Black Photographers.

Photofusion was established as the Photo Co-op by a group of female photographers – Gina Glover, Sarah Saunders and Corry Bevington – concerned about the ways in which women were presented in the media. They had met while working together on the campaign to save South London Women’s Hospital, and their documentation of the hospital became the basis of the Photo Co-Op Archive.

Last year, some of this early work went on show at Photofusion in an exhibition, Photography versus Thatcher: The Photo Co-op Archive, Prints and Objects, 1979 to 1986 – Photofusion’s Origin Story, curated by Chris Boot. Tom Seymour and Diane Smyth meet with director Jenni Grainger to learn more about the space’s current programme.

Learn more at the link below.

Set up in 1990, the space remains committed to image-making and image-makers, and now has a handsome new London home

19/06/2025

Final month to enter Portrait of Britain Vol. 8!

Judged by leading figures across the UK photography industry, this award is an opportunity for your work to be viewed by curators, picture editors and influential professionals nationwide. We asked this year’s judges what they’re hoping to see. Here’s what they told us:

✨ “I would like to see photos that speak; there is a saying: A photo is worth a thousand words” - Dennis Morris, Photographer

✨ “I always want to see love and care... in all its forms.” - Rene Matić, Artist and Writer

✨ “Don't overthink it and just do it. You never know what the jury is going to be drawn to.” - Sophie Parker, Photo London, Director

✨ “I'd love to see a sense of energy and spontaneity in the portraits this year. I'm always very compelled by a photographic portrayal that feels fresh and surprising in some way, and which expands my sense of both the world and the photographic encounter.” - Alice Zoo, Writer and Photographer

This is your opportunity to share Britain through your lens. 200 shortlisted images will be published in a dedicated Portrait of Britain photobook and 100 winning portraits will be showcased across the UK on JCDecaux UK’s digital screens in a month-long public exhibition.

Full Access and Digital Access Members can submit up to ten portraits for free. Enter now: https://1854.photo/43N0vok

18/06/2025

When the Fog Whispers invites us deep into the mountains of Asir as part of the Kingdom Photography Award 2025. The commissioned series presented at Hayy Jameel from 30 April till 20 May captures Saudi Arabia’s southern landscapes through powerful, introspective lenses.

Curated by ’s Mohamed Somji, the project features , , , , and – photographers who move beyond surface to reveal Asir’s cultural terrain. From Geoushy’s striking portraits of Al-Qatt Al-Asiri artists to Mahdy’s quiet meditations on land and belonging.

Now in its third edition, the award – led by the Visual Arts Commission – celebrates a rising wave of Saudi photographers defining their own narratives. Over 6,000 images were submitted to the public showcase, Hay Ainek – In a New Light; just 30 were selected. Together, they offer a bold, multifaceted vision of a country evolving, reflecting, and remembering all at once.

Find out more about the commissioned works at the link below.

When the Fog Whispers explores the countryside of Saudi Arabia through a photographic commission prize

17/06/2025

Last week, we welcomed photographers Diana Markosian and Abdulhamid Kircher online to speak about their respective photo books, Father (Aperture) and Rotting From Within (Loose Joints), which both offer an alternative, brutally honest look at fatherhood. The talk was hosted by BJP’s online editor, Dalia Al-Dujaili.

Born in Berlin, Kircher left for the United States as a child, leaving his father behind. Only later, when he was seventeen, did he become more familiar with his father’s life in Turkey and Germany. Rotting from Within chronicles Kircher’s summers in Berlin, documenting a new relationship with his father and, slowly, his disillusionment with him.

In her first book, Santa Barbara (Aperture, 2020), Markosian recreates the story of her family’s journey from post-Soviet Russia to the US in the 1990s, sans her father. Father uses both documentary photographs and archives of objects, letters, and vernacular images to probe the fifteen years of her father’s absence.

Abdulhamid Kircher and Diana Markosian explore their latest photo books in an in-depth conversation with Aperture and BJP

17/06/2025

Female in Focus x Nikon 2024 opens next week at The Glasgow Gallery of Photography.

“We’re absolutely delighted to be bringing the British Journal of Photography’s Female in Focus x Nikon exhibition to Glasgow this July. It’s a real privilege not just for the gallery, but for the city, to host such an inspiring and important collection of work. Female in Focus shines a light on some of the most talented women in photography today.” said Michael Mccann, Founder and Director of Glasgow Gallery of Photography

Discover this year’s winning series by Margarita Galandina and Alice Poyzer, alongside 20 single-image winners, all exploring the theme of Renewal through powerful, evocative imagery that speaks to the hope and potential of starting anew.

On show from 26 June to 27 July, the exhibition celebrates the extraordinary talent and diverse perspectives of women and non-binary photographers from around the world.

Presented in partnership with Nikon, with thanks to Metro Imaging for artwork production and to Hahnemühle for providing the finest quality paper for the prints.

17/06/2025

Fantasy Island is a new collective photo book from both Northern Ireland and the Republic that addresses some of the longest persisting ideas around the nation. Published by Belfast-based publisher Rotten Books, led by Joel Seawright and Lucy Jackson, Fantasy Island began by researching existing compilations of Irish photography.

What the editors and publishers found was a surprising gap: a lack of comprehensive collections that brought together past and present voices from both Northern Ireland and the Republic. To address this, the collective photo book is designed to spark intergenerational dialogue within the photographic community and beyond. The project seeks not just to reflect on Irish identity, but to rethink and reconstruct it for the present moment.

“There is more to our history and culture than violence,” Seawright notes. “But even when not overtly political, Irish photography is inevitably shaped by its context.”

Read BJP’s conversation with Rotten Books at the link below.

Fantasy Island is a collective publication from both Northern Ireland and the Republic that addresses some of the longest persisting ideas around the nation

15/06/2025

Ryan Prince holds a BA Fine Art from University of East London, and an MA Documentary Photography and Photojournalism, University of Westminster. A Black British male from the Jamaican diaspora, he explores self-representation within visual languages, and the ways in which photography works to challenge stereotypes and normalise lived experiences.

His series, One Year of Therapy, turns honesty into practice. The photographer was going through a hard time, and after some reluctance accepted a free session of therapy.
“The first session was on my birthday,” he recalls.

He has exhibited with institutions such as the Black Cultural Archives, The National Portrait Gallery and The Royal Photographic Society, and his work has been collected by the Martin Parr Foundation.

Find the full interview in the latest Ones to Watch issue via the BJP Shop. Grab your copy: https://1854.photo/3TdcW6x

This issue will soon be delivered to our Print Subscribers and Full Access Members. In the meantime, all Members can read the online version on our website.

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14/06/2025

A recent graduate of the documentary photography MA at the University of South Wales, Tudor Rhys Etchells’ photographic practice is shaped by his former career as an immigration lawyer in Cardiff, navigating and deconstructing the bureaucracy around migration and citizenship.

“Contemporary documentary photography of the issues surrounding migration is dominated by the same themes, such as photographs of asylum seekers queuing up for food,” he observes. Visual narratives favour shock factor and dramatic effect over nuance; few focus on the bureaucratic systems that contribute to migrants’ dehumanisation.

Born in Wales in 1994, Etchells graduated in English and Spanish Law from IE University, Spain, was called to the Bar of England and Wales in 2016. He is an associate artist at BayArt, Cardiff, and teaches at the University of Gloucester.

Find the full interview in the latest Ones to Watch issue via the BJP Shop. Grab your copy: https://1854.photo/3TdcW6x

This issue will soon be delivered to our Print Subscribers and Full Access Members. In the meantime, all Members can read the online version on our website.

📷: Tudor Rhys Etchells’

13/06/2025

As a child Arhant Shrehstra dreamt of Kathmandu. For him, Kathmandu was a city of make-believe, a manifestation of everything he couldn’t see from his family compound. Kathmandu existed purely in the imaginary. Yet, except for his time at Bard College, New York, Kathmandu has always been home. He was born and raised in the Nepalese capital, though as he describes it, Kathmandu was a land far, far, away.

Shrehstra’s childhood memories consist of car trips from home to school, school to home. When he was finally of age, and able to venture onto the streets, it was as much a q***r awakening as it was photographic, and he documented Kathmandu’s nightlife and hedonism. Then he and his partner fell victim to a homophobic attack in the street. “The assault damaged my relationship not only to men but also to Kathmandu,” he says.

Turning to his camera he started to make new work, recording alternative images of men. “Masculinity, and the camera, is not inherently and entirely violent,” he says. “There are communities of male support, familial, platonic, sexual. It is important for me to understand that. Those strong arms could be used for violence, or embrace.”

Find the full interview in the latest Ones to Watch issue via the BJP Shop. Grab your copy: https://1854.photo/3TdcW6x

This issue will soon be delivered to our Print Subscribers and Full Access Members. In the meantime, all Members can read the online version on our website.

📷: Arhant Shrehstra

12/06/2025

As a Chinese-American photographer, Wan found herself piecing together her family's fragmented story from torn photo albums, silence, and unspoken loss. In response, she began documenting everyday moments with her grandparents — quiet scenes of home, gestures of routine, life continuing. What emerged was an evolving family archive that invited unexpected collaboration: her grandparents began coloring around the photos and adding handwritten, poetic captions in Cantonese.

These childlike additions turned grief into gentle play. Migration, usually a heavy story of rupture, found new language in doodles and daydreams. “I didn’t ask them to draw,” Wan says. “But maybe it was a hidden therapy session for them.”

Today, Tomorrow explores the spaces between photographs, the silences that linger in immigrant histories, and the way memory refuses to stay still. It’s a reminder that albums and archives are living sculptural practices, too.

In every family, someone becomes the memory keeper. For Wan — and for so many navigating dual identities and generational gaps — this role is both a burden and a gift. Read the full story at the link below.

Today, Tomorrow is playful, collaborative approach to the “precious” photo album which the Chinese-American photographer rebuilt to heal her ruptured roots