The BJP’s International Photography Award series category attracted 733 entries from all over the world. The winner is a young British photographer, Dominic Hawgood.
Dominic’s prize is a major solo exhibition at TJ Boulting gallery, the respected gallery in Fitzrovia, London. Hawgood has spent all week in the gallery, creating a “3D experience” – a new floor, new walls, and the most remarkable light show to showcase his photography.
The British Journal of Photography are hosting a private view of the exhibition on Thursday 19th February, from 6pm to 9pm. There will be free wine. And you’re invited. Details are here.
“The winner and runners up show that an idea or a story together with a strong execution become more and more crucial in the practice of a photographer,” commented curator and communications specialist Erik Kessels, one of the judges who’d picked him out. “This made the selected works stand out from the others.”
Hawgood’s winning project, Under the Influence, is an off-centre exploration of evangelical Christianity, which uses the visual tropes of advertising to create a bold, glossy series miles away from the usual documentary handling of this kind of story.
“I want people to think about what is being presented,” says the London-based photographer, who frequently draws on CGI techniques as well as installation in his work. “I want people to ask questions: where were these images taken? Is this a studio setup or a documentation of real life? I want people to make up their own minds.”
[bjp_ad_slot]Hawgood got into photography in his early teens, when he would use photographs as reference material for his hyperrealist drawings; eventually photography took over, and he initially made his way into the London advertising photography scene through “the assising and studio route”.
He’s increasingly turning his attention to fine art, though, having completed the Royal College of Art’s prestigious photography MA last year; he showed his work at the Hyeres Festival de Mode et de Photographie in 2013 and has other solo shows planned for South Kiosk and PhotoIreland.
“Last year was busy in the lead up to, and the completion of, my Masters in photography, and there were numerous highlights,” he says. “Having support from [art and technology organisation] South Kiosk has been helpful, and residencies in France and China have given me the space I needed to start forming new ideas. Things are starting to fall into place.”
Dominic Hawgood’s exhibition is on show at TJ Boulting from 20 February to 07 March, with a private view on 19 February.
The exhibition also includes an image taken in Lagos by the IPA’s single image winner, Jane Hahn; a 889 x 582mm c-type printed by Spectrum on Matt paper and mounted on aluminium. www.spectrumphoto.co.uk. See more of Dominic’s work here and further details of the event are available here.
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