8th November 2007
The Jerwood Charitable Foundation and Portfolio Magazine have announced the five winners of the Jerwood Photography Awards 2007: Sophie Gerrard, Edmund Kevill-Davies, Moira Lovell, Kevin Newark, and Dana Popa. The winners each receive awards of £2,500, and their work is shown in a group exhibition at Jerwood Space, Bankside, London.
Dana Popa - Not Natasha, 2006
Not Natasha traces the tragically fractured and damaged lives of young girls and women caught up in human trafficking for prostitution within Europe, by focussing on women who originate from the Republic of Moldova. Natasha is a nickname given to prostitutes and sex trafficked girls hate it.
Sophie Gerrard - E-wasteland, 2006
E-wasteland addresses the growing problems of electronic waste in India. Shot in workshops and recycling yards on the outskirts of Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore and Delhi, Sophie Gerrard's photographs look at this hazardous illegal industry.
Tim Eyles, Chairman of the Jerwood Charitable Foundation, Roanne Dods, Director of the Jerwood Charitable Foundation, and Gloria Chalmers, Editor of Portfolio Magazine, were joined by Martin Barnes, Senior Curator of Photographs at the Victoria & Albert Museum (Chair of the Selection Panel), who presented the Awards at Jerwood Space, London, at 7.00pm on Thursday, 8th November 2007.
Martin Barnes said: "Current issues were high on the agenda across all submissions, and the winners reflect this trend. It is clear that photographers are probing and commenting boldly upon some of the most prevalent and emotive topics of our time. This year's winning five bodies of work are all highly distinctive. They are dynamic, sophisticated and often challenging. Perhaps, above all, what they appear to have in common is an acute level of social, personal and psychological engagement."
Roanne Dods said: "Again this year we were very excited by the quality of entrants. It is a privilege every year to see the exceptionally high standard of photography from people in such early stages in their careers. There was a notable shift in the rigour, imagination and maturity of the work this year, despite the ages of the photographers represented. The exhibition is inspiring, moving and meaningful."
Over 4,000 photographs were submitted by 540 entrants, all recent graduates from UK visual art courses, and resident in the UK. The exhibition at Jerwood Space opens to the public on 9th November and continues until 9th December 2007. Portfolio Magazine issue 46, published on 8th November, features the work of the winning photographers, accompanied by an essay by Martin Barnes.
Selectors for the 2007 Jerwood Photography Awards were: Martin Barnes, Senior Curator of Photographs, Victoria & Albert Museum, London; Gloria Chalmers, Editor of Portfolio Magazine; Gayle Chong Kwan, Visual Artist; John Davies, Photographer / Artist; and Anne McNeill, Director of Impressions Gallery, Bradford.
Other winners are as follows:
Moira Lovell - The After School Club, 2006-07
The After School Club series shows young women taken from school-themed nightclubs and returned, still wearing their revellers' outfits, to their school gates. Lovell shows how context and setting of a subject can radically alter perception and meaning.
Kevin Newark - Protoplasm, 2005-06
In Protoplasm Kevin Newark finds transcendent possibilities in the most common of things, having photographed plastic bags cast adrift in the canals of East London. His photographs illustrate the pressing current issues about waste and its knock-on global effects.
Edmund Kevill-Davies - Puppet Love, 2006-07
Edmund Kevill-Davies' humorous series Puppet Love explores the special relationship a ventriloquist shares with his puppet. These portraits feature some of the last remaining practising ventriloquists in the UK, who are fast being made redundant. The photographs aim to show how the dedication of so much of the ventriloquist's time to his puppets affects home life and the relationship with other family members.
