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GRADUATE
PHOTOGRAPHY
ONLINE 2026

Each year as part of Graduate Photography Online we ask a number of professionals from the world of photography to review all the BA work submitted and choose their favourites. We hope this makes an interesting introduction to the project as a whole.

Amara Eno

Photo Director, Port Magazine

port-magazine.com

It was a real treat to have the opportunity to immerse myself in a such wealth of photography from emerging talent. Across the different courses and categories, I found myself becoming acquainted and reacquainted with many familiar themes: home, memory, grief, community, family, friendship and our relationship with both the natural and constructed world. Despite these commonalities, I was positively struck by the breadth of creative approaches taken to explore these ideas. So much of the work felt distinct and was uniquely informed by the individual experiences, geographic locations and personal perspectives of the photographer behind it. It made for a very tough selection process - I wish I could have chosen more highlights! It’s encouraging to see that there’s so much talent coming through in this graduating year.

Selected Photographers:

Paddy Maddox

Selector's Comment: A beautiful and poetic series of photographs, both individually and as a body of work. Each photo feels like a postcard; tangible and incredibly evocative of the themes of longing and the grasping of youth that sit at the heart of the project. Even though I was looking at them on a screen, I can imagine they would be just as beautiful, if not more so in print form. It was a real treat to spend time looking at Paddy’s work.

Lucas Davies

Selector's Comment: I really liked Lucas’ use of anecdotal titles alongside the photographs - it’s a nice reminder that visuals and text don’t always need to correspond directly or give the full story away. I’m a big fan of work that leaves room for individual interpretation and lets your mind wander. I enjoyed how Lucas’ project got me thinking about all of the various backstories that these locations are home to. I was also fond of how they used tilt-shift to draw parallels with the transience of memory.

Max Graham

Selector's Comment: I think Max’s project is a great example of how you can make work that is founded on a deeply personal context yet still resonates with others, even if lived their experiences differ. It’s relatively easy to explain why your story is important to you, but much harder to execute it in a way that others can meaningfully engage with. Max has done a good job of identifying their who, what and why in the making of this work and the result is a lovely set of triptychs that take you on a journey.

Rachel Coffey

Selector's Comment: I love how Rachel found a way with this project to explore the subject of community without following the traditional route of portraiture - especially in a space that is so typically associated with people and the collective. The considered photo compositions throughout the series are really effective and makes for images that you want to keep returning to; and notice a different detail each time. I was also drawn in by how these images look so much like stills from a computer game - a really unique piece of work.

Gemma McNaughton

Selector's Comment: A well-executed series of photos compositionally, with an equally interesting context behind it. I can’t quite work out whether I find it more humorous or eerie - probably a bit of both! I particularly love the art direction; the way that the bodies have been styled to blend into their surroundings through their clothing, whilst also standing out because of the incongruity of their body positioning. Gemma has found a really clever and playful way of using photography as a means to interrogate how we, as humans, exist in relation to and interact with the built world.

Ronan O'Neill

Selector's Comment: I really enjoyed looking through Ronan’s project - the nostalgic element really came through in the low exposure and messiness (in a good way!) of the moments captured. It felt like I was scrolling through my own camera roll or old Facebook photos and reminiscing on my student days, where someone always seemed to have a camera on them snapping away at snippets of life that felt mundane at the time, but have since become cherished memories. It’s refreshing to see work like this - it’s very easy to get wrapped up in big abstract ideas when producing coursework at uni, and this project shows that you can find a meaningful story right on your doorstep.

Selection by Gemma Padley ▸
Writer & Editor

Selection by Peggy Sue Amison ▸
Artistic Director, East Wing

View Submission Guidelines  ▸