Each year as part of Graduate Photography Online we ask three curators to review all the BA work submitted and to make some recommendations. These are published both in a supplement in the magazine and here on our website. We hope this makes an interesting introduction to the project as a whole.
Salvatore
Vitale
Editor-in-chief
Having the opportunity to review the submissions for this year's Graduate Photography Online was a great way to get a glimpse, and indeed a preview, of some of the main fields of interest being pursued by those artists who have just completed a degree programme and are now embarking on their career. The quality of the submissions, as well as the heterogeneity of approaches and thematics shows, again, the infinite range of possibility presented by the art of image-making.
University of Brighton - BA (Hons) Photography
Selector's Comment: In 'Aftermath Speculation', Joe Pettet-Smith draws the viewer into a post-apocalyptic narrative which describes and depicts some of the experiences that mainstream entertainment sells as a representation of the end of the world - as we know it. Combining a captivating aesthetic with the use of sharp, coherent narration, the author deploys strategies and terminology adopted from cinema, TV and literature to transform common scenarios into dystopian visions.
University of South Wales - BA (Hons) Documentary Photography
Selector's Comment: Luke Withers' work explores the complex topic of a territory's relationship to its resources. He does so by documenting the case of Gibraltar, a 426m limestone rock which rises from the Mediterranean and which is reliant upon the process of desalination for its drinking water. I found myself profoundly attracted to, and seduced by, his use of a direct and coherent aesthetic in support of a research method that conveys a deep understanding of the social, economical and political context in which the story is played out.
Falmouth University - BA (Hons) Photography
Selector's Comment: When I started to go through Ocean Farini's 'Nine Slices of Bread' I suddenly found myself immersed in a sharp and witty way of discussing the delicate topic of the definition of success and the self-representation driven by the standard of beauty which modern societies dictate. I found it particularly interesting how Farini uses the form of the magazine together with collages, self-portraits and archives to create a product that - using a language typical of the 80s - underlines how despite a cultural and technological development, modern society still nurtures a chauvinist and distorted image of women.
University of South Wales - BA (Hons) Documentary Photography
Selector's Comment: Giya Makondo-Wills' 'They Came from The Water While The World Watched' is a journey into religion and cultural heritage engendered by the encounter of two different cultures which was precipitated by colonialism. Starting as a personal story in which the author plays both the role of the colonizer and the colonized, the series portrays "the call on God and The Gods" through the use of symbolism and documentation. Makondo-Wills offers us a vision of South Africa interweaved with western beliefs. The use of flashlight and saturated colors foster the perception of a space suspended between the two worlds.
University of South Wales - BA (Hons) Documentary Photography
Selector's Comment: 'Under the Black Sun' by Luke Richards is a visual enquiry into the origins of rituals and symbolism used for propaganda purposes by political parties to promote their agenda. Richards explores the rituals and the symbol of the 'New Man' created by Mussolini under Fascism, an ideology which drew on nostalgia for the Ancient Roman past to gain popular support. The artist here offers a glimpse into a phenomenon that, thanks to its power, became part of the culture of a nation. Architecture, gestures, religion and power all play together to foster a performance, a given vision of a distorted reality. The dark mood and the cinematic taste of the photographs in the series complete the scenario.
University of South Wales - BA (Hons) Documentary Photography
Selector's Comment: Polly Garnett in her series 'With Her in Our Land' explores Cultural Ecofeminism, a movement developed in response to the belief that women and nature have become dominated and devalued in Western culture. Bringing together the use of choreography and photography, Garnett creates a space where nature and the feminine find a form of emancipation. Beautifully captured ice sculptures miming revolutionary gestures, portraits, architectures and extraterrestrial landscapes all furnish the work with different levels of meaning. This juxtaposition of discourses locates the work somewhere between documentation and artistic interpretation, creating new social patterns in relation to activism and its role in the battle against climate change.
Selection by Marie-France Kittler »
Curator - Firstsite.
Selection by Ivy Lahon »
Picture Editor - Save the Children.
Bath Spa University
BA (Hons) Photography
Blackpool and the Fylde
BA (Hons) Photography
University of Brighton
BA (Hons) Photography
Arts University Bournemouth
BA (Hons) Photography
University of Chester
BA (Hons) Photography
Cleveland College of Art and Design
BA (Hons) Photography
Coventry University
BA (Hons) Photography
Dublin Institute of Technology
BA (Hons) Photography
Griffith College Dublin
BA Photographic Media
IADT Dun Laoghaire
BA (Hons) Photography
Falmouth University
BA (Hons) Photography
UCA Farnham
BA (Hons) Photography
Hereford College of Arts
BA (Hons) Photography
University of Huddersfield
BA (Hons) Photography
Leeds College of Art
BA (Hons) Photography
Limerick School of Art and Design
BA (Hons) Photography and Lens Based Media
Manchester Metropolitan University
BA (Hons) Photography
Middlesex University London
BA (Hons) Photography
Open College of the Arts
BA (Hons) Photography
National College of Art and Design
Photography and Digital Imaging Certificate
Plymouth College of Art
BA (Hons) Photography
University of Portsmouth
BA (Hons) Photography
Sheffield Hallam University
BA (Hons) Photography
University of South Wales
BA (Hons) Documentary Photography
Swansea College of Art, UWTSD
BA (Hons) Photography in the Arts
Swansea College of Art, UWTSD
BA (Hons) Photojournalism and Documentary