FreshFaced+WildEyed 2012 is The Photographers’ Gallery’s annual exhibition which showcases the quality and breadth of graduates’ practices from photographic courses across the UK. The exhibition aims to draw attention to innovative new talents from a range of photographic fields and will be accompanied by an online image gallery.

Twenty-two photographers had been selected from an open submission of hundreds of applicants. They were chosen by a judging panel of photography experts: Bridget Coaker, night picture editor for The Guardian and Observer and co-founder of Troika Editions; Anthony Luvera, artist; Karen Newman, Curator, Open Eye and Brett Rogers, Director, The Photographers’ Gallery. The finalists have all graduated in the past year from BA and MA visual arts courses across the UK with photography forming the main component of their practice.

Featured artists display a wide range of photographic approaches and subject matter. Hallgerður Hallgrímsdóttir incorporates found images into her interpretation of home, her country of origin – Iceland. David Birkin combines original and appropriated images to examine the production and dissemination of war photography. Helen Goodin and Chloe Sells apply darkroom processes to images exploring the nature of light and the creation of abstract landscapes. Alison Bettles and SeoYeoung Won use constructed photographs and studio installations to investigate photography’s relationship with sculpture and painting. Jonny Briggs’ staged scenes seek to recapture forgotten childhood memories and Elisavet Tamouridou attempts to retrace her family’s lost history following the 1922 Greek genocide and displacement. Maria Gruzdeva will showcase her documentary study of the Russian Border Guard Service community while Emma Critchley’s series of underwater images address more conceptual ideas about the fragility of life. Additional featured artists include: Brendan Baker & Daniel Evans, Anders Birger, Paula Gortázar, Gemma Marmalade, Marianne McGurk, Nadège Mériau, Vilma Pimenoff, Minna Pöllänen, Martin Seeds, Alison Stolwood and Helen Thompson.

FreshFaced + WildEyed 2012, 15th – 30th September, The Photographers’ Gallery, 16-18 Ramillies Street, London, W1F 7LW. www.thephotographersgallery.org.uk

Credit:
Gemma Marmalade
Strange Birds (2011)
Video Projection, slide projection and audio installation (variable) – 8m 8 secs (looped)
© Gemma Marmalade
Courtesy The Photographers’ Gallery, London