The 10th Sproxton Award for Photography winner announced at LCC MA Photography Final Show.
Ruth Campbell became the tenth winner of the annual Sproxton Award for Photography, when she picked up the award at London College of Communication’s MA Photography Final show on Thursday 14 November. The prize is given to an exceptional MA Photography student each year to help kick-start their career.
Three more artists also celebrated awards with the winners of the Photofusion Prize and awards by Photoworks, Troika Editions, and MACK, all honouring different aspects of photographic practice announced on the night.
46 graduates from LCC’s renowned MA photography course, itself celebrating 15 years of Final Shows in 2013, showcase their final work until 21 November 2013.
Ruth Campbell winner of The 10th Sproxton Award for Photography
Ruth Campbell, Once A Year and Now, MA Photography 2013
In her series Once a Year & Now Ruth focuses on the annual event of a birthday, paying special homage to the homemade birthday cake. A combination of family photographs that were never inserted into the ‘family album’, juxtaposed with new images, the project celebrates the care and attention shown by a mother in this yearly celebration.
Judged by a panel consisting of an industry professional and an MA Photography Alumni, the prize was set up in memory of Andrew Sproxton who, in 1972, together with Val Williams, created the Impressions Gallery of Photography in York, one of the first specialist photography galleries in the UK and Europe.
Ruth, who will receive £1000 to help kickstart her photography career said; “I’m completely shocked, it was such a surprise. The project is a celebration of my mother’s creativity really, by making the missing cakes that were never photographed and re-living the act of blowing out the candles, I wanted to acknowledge and celebrate the care and attention shown by a mother every year.”
Professor Val Williams, Director of the Photography and the Archive Research Centre (PARC) at the University of the Arts London, who judged the award with 2011 alumna Gemma Marmalade said;
“The work expresses a particular anxiety about family which is perfectly expressed in this seemingly innocuous subject matter.”
A special mention went to Mike Pevsner for his series Working From Homewhich examined the creation of office spaces with the home.
Mike Pevsner, Working From Home, MA Photograohy 2013
Sian Macfarlane, winner of The Photofusion Prize
Sian Macfarlane, We Will Meet Sooner Then Two Mountains, MA Photography 2013
Sian Macfarlane’s installation, We Will Meet Sooner Than Two Mountains, was inspired by a series of found annotated photographs from 1946 charting a trip across North Wales and an archive of letters between a Victorian artist, Lily Whaite, and her father. The result is a beautifully fragmented narrative created from video, image and sound that reveals the characters’ lives as ghosts outside of time.
Located in Brixton, Photofusion is an independent photography resource centre and gallery that offers studio and darkroom hire, digital printing, film processing, training and professional support. It also delivers a wide range of community outreach and participatory projects.
Adrian Wood of Photofusion said “ continuing our support of young and emerging photographers, we are delighted to be presenting the Photofusion Award to a photographer from the MA Photography course at LCC. We wanted to award a photographer whom we felt has a fresh approach to the medium, and whose work provokes and challenges the viewer.”
Sian wins £250 for Photofusion’s services, including mentoring and portfolio advice.
Ian Rudgewick Brown, winner of the Troika Photography Award
As winner of the Troika Photography Award Ian Rudgewick-Brown can look forward to his very own solo show next year at the Troika Edition’s London gallery, The Front Room.
In his film Point of Influx, Ian explores the invention of the telegraph which saw the rapid spread of submarine cables trailing the ocean floors around the world, many of which funnelled into the small unassuming cove of Porthcurno in Cornwall. Recorded on HD video we transverse backwards and forwards between Hi-Fi and Low-Fi through various modes of representation, on a journey back to the era of the “Victorian Internet.”
Judged by co-founders of the contemporary photography gallery, Bridget Coaker and Michael Walter, the successful graduate not only gets a solo show in the summer of 2014, but will be supported by Troika Editions with curatorial advice and promotional support for the exhibition.
Michael Walter of Troika Editions said; “We’re delighted to support the LCC postgraduate photography programme with the inaugural Troika Photography Award. We liked Ian’s film very much because of its visual inventiveness, it was playful, and we really enjoyed the way it was put together. We can’t wait to see it in our space.”
Ammar Syed winner of The Photoworks Prize
Ammar Syed, Observational Paradox, MA photography 2013
In his series Observational Paradox Ammar Syed investigates perceptions of a banal object in the gallery space – in this instance a CCTV camera mounted on a column. The works seek to unpack different narratives of the everyday object, by defamiliarization and through placement in a different context.
As a Muslim living in London the artist feels that Muslims in general have become extremely paranoid and somewhat conspiracy theorists, constantly feeling they are being observed or under surveillance. With the aid of Islamic patterns, and referencing Persian miniature paintings from the Mughal era, the artist seeks to create a new visual narrative for the viewership of the gallery audience.
Photoworks curates, commissions and publishes photographic work and new writing about photography and produces projects, exhibitions, books, the Brighton Photo Biennial and Photoworks Annual.
Ammar receives free Photoworks Membership for a year and a showcase on their online gallery.
A commendation went to Shankun Wu for his series Big Mountain.
Shankun Wu, Big Mountain, MA Photography 2013
Sian Macfarlane winner of The MACK / MAPP Award
Sian Macfarlane’s installation, We Will Meet Sooner Than Two Mountains, also recived the MACK/MAPP Award which offers the winning MA Photography candidate at LCC a prize of £100 voucher for the download of MAPP ebooks and £200 voucher for purchase of MACK books.
There were commendations for James Duncan Clark, for his series Direction of Travel, Sara Wellenkamp for Achilles’ Heel and Alice Myers for Nothing is Impossible Under the Sun.
James Duncan Clark, Direction of Travel, MA Photography 2013
Sara Wellenkamp, Achilles’ Heel, MA Photography 2013
Alice Myers, Anything is Possible Under the Sun, MA Photography 2013
The MA Photography Final Show is open until Thursday 21 November, along with PgDip Photography Portfolio Development and MA Documentary Film.
London College of Communication Postgraduate Shows 2013 feature work by Over 300 MA students in documentary film, photography, photojournalism, sound, and design disciplines including graphics, typography, visual communication and service design.
The shows take place from 14 November 2013 until 20 December 2013. Shows are open to the public and free of charge. See a full list of dates for LCC Postgraduate Shows 2013 http://bit.ly/16AdlTT
