Prizes - DPOTY2021

FUJIFILM House of Photography

The category winners will feature in a London exhibition at the FUJIFILM House of Photography. This will be followed by a UK touring exhibition. All commended entries will have an opportunity to take part in a UK touring exhibition (digital projection).

The winner of the RPS Member category will receive a Fujifilm X100V camera (donated by FUJIFILM) and one-year’s free RPS membership.

The FUJIFILM House of Photography is our first ever experience centre, based in the heart of London, between Covent Garden and Leicester Square. The store celebrates every element of taking, making and sharing photos using the instax, X Series and GFX system cameras and wide range of printers.

The House of Photography app is designed to make sure your FUJIFILM experience is the best it can be, in-store and out. Offering the latest news, expert tips and product information, as well as direct access to equipment hire and event bookings, plus, you can also buy products through the app! There’s not much you can’t do with this app in your pocket.

fujifilm-houseofphotography.com

Martin Parr Foundation

The winner of the Open category will receive a bursary, professional development support from Martin Parr Foundation and one-year’s free RPS membership.

The Martin Parr Foundation supports emerging, established and overlooked photographers who have made and continue to make work focused on the British Isles. We preserve a growing collection of significant photographic works and strive to make photography engaging and accessible for all. We are committed to making the Martin Parr Foundation a place for everyone and to reflect the diversity of British culture.

MPF runs a wide range of events and workshops, exhibitions and provide photographic bursaries. MPF collection includes a growing collection of photographic material such as; prints, book dummies, portfolios as well the extensive archives of David Hurn, Val Williams, and Chris Killip, plus an expanding library specialising in British and Irish photo-books.

The Martin Parr Foundation was originally launched by Martin Parr in 2017 as a space for British photography, with an emphasis on the legacy of Parr’s work and personal collection of photography. The collection continues to expand and we understand there are many omissions that we must actively seek to address. Such omissions will also be addressed within our programming. We need to work more collaboratively and engage a wider range of voices. Our aim is to create a fair, democratic and open space for British photography to flourish.

Martin Parr is one of the best-known documentary photographers of his generation. With over 100 books of his own work, and another 30 that he has edited, his photographic legacy is well established. As well as being a photographer, Martin supports and collects the work of other photographers, particularly those who photograph within the UK. In order to preserve his archive and his collections, Martin established (and funded) the Martin Parr Foundation in 2017 as a home for British photography. Martin continues to work as a photographer as well as devoting time towards supporting the work and ambitions of the Foundation.

www.martinparrfoundation.org/about

Simon Roberts HonFRPS

The winner of the Student category will receive a bursary, professional development support from leading photographer Simon Roberts HonFRPS and one-year’s free RPS membership.

Simon Roberts - from the project Merrie Albion

During our session I plan to offer an overview of my photographic practice, providing insights into my research framework, methodology, process of post-production and how I ultimately get the work out into the world. It will also be an opportunity for you to present some of your own photographs and seek advice about the foundations needed for building a sustainable career within the creative sector.

Simon Roberts (b.1974) is an acclaimed British contemporary photographic artist. His practice is principally photography based, but also encompasses video, text and installation work, which together, interrogate our notions of what landscape is and how it is depicted, utilised, commodified and interpreted.

Roberts has exhibited widely and his photographs reside in major public and private collections, including the George Eastman House, Deutsche Börse Art Collection and V&A Museum. He has been recognised with numerous awards including an Honorary Fellowship to the Royal Photographic Society, the Vic Odden Award and grants from the John Kobal Foundation. In 2010 he was commissioned as the official British Election Artist by the House of Commons Works of Art Committee to produce a record of the General Election and in 2014 he represented Britain during the UK-Russia Year of Culture.

He is the author of several monographs including Motherland (2007), We English (2009), Pierdom (2013) and Merrie Albion - Landscape Studies of a Small Island (2017), whilst his work has been profiled and published widely including in the New Yorker, Granta, National Geographic, ArtForum, Wallpaper, amongst others. www.simoncroberts.com

Royal Photographic Society

Winners and commended photographers will have opportunities for publication in The Decisive Moment and The RPS Journal and selected photographers will be invited to present at our Engagement Talk series. Category winners will each receive one-year’s free RPS membership (rps.org/membership).

The Royal Photographic Society is an educational charity committed to bringing photography to everyone. Founded when photography was in its infancy, today we are a world-leading photographic community (rps.org/about).

This month the RPS has announced their Strategic Plan for the next five years: (rps.org/about/strategy)

Throughout our 168-year history, the Royal Photographic Society has grown and evolved alongside the practice of photography. This evolution has been driven by the ambitions of our members, by leaps in technology, and by changes in society. Today, we recognise there are many new challenges and opportunities, and that photography is as important now as it has ever been. We are therefore delighted to publish Photography for Everyone, our new strategic plan for the next five years. It has been created over many months in consultation with members, staff, trustees, and volunteers throughout the RPS.

DPOTY has been expanded this year to include new categories of Open and Student as well as retaining a Members category. By doing this we continue to encourage members to enter, but aligned with the RPS Strategy as well as raising the profile, we have widened the competition to enable anyone in the international photographic community to enter. Similarly, we have expanded our judging panel and made it much more diverse and inclusive. Although there is an admission fee for non-members, we have set this low and will offer concessions on application to increase opportunities for inclusion.

The Decisive Moment

The Decisive Moment is a quarterly journal that showcases the work of the Documentary Group members, shares insights and reviews about exhibitions related to the field of documentary photography and contains articles and interviews with prominent members of the photographic community. Previous editions of The Decisive Moment can be read online via the Issuu platform.

Engagement Talks and Events

The Documentary Group hosts a series of Engagement Talks by established and upcoming photographers working on documentary and long-term projects. The Engagement series has previously featured talks by DPOTY finalists Lina Geoushy (Breadwinners) and Andrew Wood (Punters), John Bulmer, Margaret Mitchel, Mik Critchlow, Jim Mortram, Arteh Odjidja, Alys Tomlinson, Daniel Meadows and KC Nwakalor.

Regional Groups

As well as centrally organised events, our Regional Groups put on local events. These include talks and presentations (currently online), local workshops or exhibitions (of members work), a group project, visits and photo walks, feedback and critique sessions and online Zoom meetings. We currently have Documentary Groups in: Northern, Yorkshire, East Anglia, Thames Valley, Southern, South East and joint groups with Contemporary in Central and North West.