Source: Graduate Photography Online 2024 - MA/MFA Selections

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

It has been fascinating to view the huge range of submissions from this year’s MA photography graduates and a real pleasure for me as I am always looking for new work. Each submission was clearly the result of a great deal of careful consideration and deep thinking around image-making and process. The range of approaches was particularly interesting as I encounter more work that is created by AI within the realm of photography. Equally, I appreciated the way that text and three-dimensionality were included within some projects, and I enjoyed the blurring and pushing of boundaries as to what photography is. I hope that my choices include a range of stories, from the personal to the urgent and I chose them for these reasons but also because I felt that the execution was of a high standard and appropriate for the subject-matter. I have no doubt that we will see many of these recent graduates go on to greater things and I wish them all the best of luck in their future careers.

Selected Photographers:

Selector's Comment: I found this project extremely compelling – I like the way that Mansi has used the form of the self-portrait to stand for the victims of discrimination, coupled with a judicious amount of text that amplifies each image perfectly. The series is extremely powerful in the way that it addresses injustice and brings it to our attention without sentiment or graphic imagery. The photographer gives the viewer just enough information to allow us to imagine what she and her caste might be experiencing but without being overly direct and taking a more obvious documentary approach. I find this subtlety admirable, and the images alone led me to want to know more about the work, alongside the use of simple primary colours and the reference to posters and printed matter.

Selector's Comment: The range of approaches in Lindsey’s work is exceptional – from performance, where the camera becomes a tool to make a record, to the inclusion of postcards and quotes from strangers, this work pushes the boundaries of photography in a number of directions whilst remaining true to the medium. I found the individual images have a strong narrative appeal and wanted to understand more about the work and the photographer’s intentions. Each image is beautifully composed and presents the viewer with a suggestion of the presence of the photographer whilst allowing space for ambivalence.

Selector's Comment: There is so much ambiguity in this series – I was unsure what I was looking at but found myself intrigued by the photographer’s story and the cultural context of the work. The work centres upon a combination of archival and contemporary imagery. These are so often shoe-horned together but in this case they make perfect sense, and the rejection of customs is played out carefully and with dignity. Amy’s work allows us to both learn and question in equal measure and the final outcome of the life-size staged image of Amy on the bed might have allowed for a live performance if she was able to re-stage the scene in the gallery.

Selector's Comment: I loved this body of work as it allows us to understand so much about the way that photographers can work with AI to interrogate how we see and use imagery and how AI can play into our prejudices around issues of race and gender. Kun’s work subverts our idea of what Jesus Christ looks like – an idea that is based upon Western art history and of course has nothing to do with anything we know about how someone from that time and place might have looked. The work plays with our bias and also reminds us about the issues that surround any sort of technology that uses biased data sources. The faces that have been selected by the program look so little like our idea of Christ that it throws the whole notion of our understanding of this image up in the air.

Selector's Comment: I was drawn to these beautiful staged images that suggested so much narrative but remained elusive in meaning. Once I had understood the extremely painful and personal issues that the work deals with, I was able to engage with them on a deeper level. Allie has managed to tread a line between work that is personal but also deals with important, sensitive material. The images work individually but also come together to suggest a deeper meaning and I like the suggested connection between women and nature. The range of subjects and the collaborative nature of the work also spoke to me as I am increasingly interested in the power dynamic between photographer and subject.

Selector's Comment: I chose this work as I find the idea of the screen, the surface upon which we now rely for so much, to be particularly relevant – it was sent to me via a screen of course. The blurred tv images that Maria has captured and then developed within the space in which they were taken, suggest so much but ultimately deliver very little beyond the recognisable face of Donald Trump. The images have layered meaning – we see what Maria’s grandmother sees, and thus we see through Maria’s eyes as well. I found this means of visualising an inter-generational relationship original and moving as we are aware of the physical distance between the two and the inevitable age gap but also it made me think about propaganda and freedom from state media, issues that are particularly relevant at the moment.