Source: Graduate Photography Online - 2018 Selections

Each year as part of Graduate Photography Online we ask three professionals from the world of photography to review all the MA/MFA work submitted and 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.

It has been a real pleasure to look over the projects for this year's MA/MFA submissions. The level of work was extremely high and the majority of the projects viewed felt completed. This has been a remarkable year politically and many of the projects submitted have been informed by our changing world - their topics felt acutely timely in our current climate. The introduction of new voices is always welcome within our photographic community. The selected artists have spent years forming these projects and concepts and I am excited to see the next stages of their development. I wish all the graduates of 2017/2018 the greatest success in the future and look forward to seeing their work in upcoming shows and book publications.

Selected Photographers:

Selector's Comment: In the series 'A Blurry Aftertaste' the artist Eleonora Agostini works at the intersection between photography, performance and sculpture using her parents and the family-owned objects as her subjects. Eleonora has a strong visual language within her work and constructs curious photographs of everyday domesticity in exploring aspects of routine, repetition and boredom. High attention to detail makes this body of work outstanding. She has an advanced understanding of lighting and black & white photography. Each of the selected photographs stands out on their own, and she has a firm knowledge of how to edit and create a finished body of work. The final year show at the RCA was presented as an installation, with frames of different sizes, a wooden construction and a cast of a crumpled pillow.

London College of Communication - MA Photojournalism and Documentary Photography

Selector's Comment: Jelca Kollatch has a beautiful tone to her photographs and an exceptional understanding of lighting and composition. She is industry-ready to work for NGOs and editorial commissions. Her photographs inform the viewer of important issues within Uganda and her text is educational. The completion of text and photographs shows her to be a highly competent photojournalist.

London College of Communication - MA Photojournalism and Documentary Photography

Selector's Comment: Fiona Filipidis's work explores our relationship and history with the bee. Bees are crucial to the continuation of human life as she points out in her text. She produced an outstanding book for her final work at LCC, which was a combination of her photographs and researched images from sources such as the British Library. Her work was displayed with a bed of flowers, frames and books on the walls. Fiona has a real passion for change.

Selector's Comment: Miguel's photographs are rooted in documentary photography and storytelling. His work is an investigation into 'The Buzzer' - the Russian Western Military radio network. These regions have a mythic quality about them and show us a world that is now part of the European Union and its long-standing relationship with Russia. This is a long-term project that he wishes to develop into a publication by 2020. Each photograph is beautifully composed: he has a respectful gaze for his subjects and his images are poetic. I admire Miguel's dedication to produce a long-term body of work about this region.

Selector's Comment: Cheryl's series of photographs about the Wiltshire village she grew up in, titled 'Lovers,' has a strong storytelling quality. The installation is well thought out and has a unique relationship with the text, photographs and screen-printed pieces. She uses treasured possessions from her teenage bedroom, old magazines, and photos in glass museum boxes within the installation. She explores the reality of country living in the UK: the hedges cut to perfection, the old worldly signs of the country, traditions that seem to remain the same for decades. She is a strong portrait photographer with a developed sense of composition and colour grading.

Selector's Comment: Having been brought up a Catholic myself, Pauline's work resonated with me. This project is timely to many debates that are happening in and outside of Ireland regarding the Catholic faith. Pauline's photographs are poetic, and the use of performative elements within the work adds value to the storytelling. She has a great understanding of light and how this can create mood and emotion within a photograph.

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