About the Genesis Postgraduate Award 2019:
We are proud to announce the winner and commended entries for this year’s Postgraduate Award below.
The Genesis Postgraduate Award returned in 2019 to offer support to individuals continuing to postgraduate level. In a change to the inaugural award which required university lecturers to submit students for entry, this years award was open to all universities in England and for students to self-submit for our production grant.
From years of experience working with students, we’re only too aware of the financial pressures faced in the production of final work. And of our responsibility to help foster new talent as leaders in production for the creative industries.
The award is comprised of full production of one individual’s degree show using our range of services (up to the value of £2000). Alongside 12 months mentoring and support, promotion via our newsletter and social media channels and invites to industry events and exhibitions.
The Genesis Postgraduate Bursary Award – Winner:
Ignacio Barrios, Royal College of Art
“Printed Suspensions” and “ Shared Edges” are on-going / work-in-progress series of in-studio photographs using the most basic and minimal tools to create new images produced by photographing transparent A4 colour sheets.
The photographs make reference to the neo-plasticism painting movement led by Piet Mondrian where the artists could only use horizontal and vertical lines and plain primary colours.
To construct this effect and attempt to speak of the weight of colour and space, I have constructed a stage of overlapping transparent colored sheets suspended from hangers and structures at different intervals in order to produce new points and new lines that yield unique colours, and ultimately, construct original images without framing the colours with black lines.”
The Genesis Postgraduate Bursary Award – Commended Entries:
Macarena Costan, The University of the West of England, Bristol
“A member of my family found negatives in an old box. The negatives were captured in the 1920s and 1930s by my great grandmother’s brother, documenting life in the south of Spain. I was struck by the level of gaze through which all were photographed, but in particular the presence of strong portraits of women from different backgrounds, revealing control, determination and strength; the late 1920’s were marked by a keen intellectual debate on sexual difference, relations between the sexes and a reassessment of gender roles. Brave transgressive women started defying the traditional norms, appealing for modernisation and equality, reaching broader levels of freedom and fighting against rooted tradition, religion and social and political repression.
As an artist interested in gender and cultural traditions, I respond to this archive to explore traditional representations of femininity and gender norms in the present day. I have created new images where I highlight and challenge perceptions of strength, control over repressive symbols and self-determination.”
Carlos Saavedra, London College of Communication
“My projects have a direct connection with people and their personal stories. The concepts of life and death, as well as the representation of human nature, have been the focus of my photographic work. I focus on building a strong relationship with the subjects, creating a document that will dignify and show a glimpse of their humanity.
Madres TERRA is about a group of mothers from Colombia who denounced the disappearance and death of their children. An investigation revealed that members of the Colombian Army passed them off as guerrilla members in order to collect financial and professional rewards offered by the State. The women have worked tirelessly for more than 10 years to preserve the memory of their children and to demand justice from the government. The series consists of 15 black and white photographs based on the interaction between the earth and the mothers. It was essential for the process to understand their story and for each of the 15 mothers, it was a sustained process that eventually ended in a personal photographic ritual.”
Genesis Imaging Postgraduate Award Judging Panel 2019:
Mark Foxwell
Creative director of Genesis Imaging, Mark Foxwell is based in London and is a photographic printer of 40 years standing, working closely with renowned Photographers and Artists.
Chris Hoare
Chris Hoare is a photographer born in Bristol, 1989. He is in the process of completing an MA in Photography at the University of the West of England, whilst working as both an associate lecturer at Coventry University and in the gallery at the Martin Parr Foundation. Chris was the 2018 Genesis Postgraduate Bursary Award Winner for our inaugural award.
Photocaptionist
The Photocaptionist is a on and offline curatorial and editorial platform that explores the relationship between photography, fictions and words. Founded and directed by writer and curator Federica Chiocchetti it experiments with photo-text practices through online features, exhibitions, publications, lectures and events.
Nicola Shipley
Nicola Shipley works as a Producer, Curator, Project Manager, Mentor and Consultant specialising in photography. She trained as an art historian, has an MA in History of Art, and now is engaged in commissioning, exhibitions, collections, public art, artists education and professional development. She is currently Director of GRAIN Projects, based in Birmingham UK, where she works with established and emerging artists and photographers.
Rodrigo Orrantia
Rodrigo Orrantia is an art historian and curator, specialising in photography. Since graduating with an MA in Contemporary and Historical Photography from Sotheby’s Institute of Art, he has worked on projects for major museums in the UK, along with art fairs and festivals in UK, Europe and Latin America.
A huge congratulations to those who were commended and to Ignacio, our winner for 2019.