We are proud to share the winners of our 2024 Emerging Talent Awards with you!
Abdelrahman Alkahlout stood out to me for having the bravery and composure to create his photographs—the environment these are taken in is not just hostile and dangerous but also personal. The images moved me and are difficult to look at, but that only highlights the importance of creating such work and the need for this work to be shared and championed.
I chose Pool because the project jumped out at me. Firstly as a purely visual feast—the color palette instantly brought feelings of nostalgia for the film stock of yesteryear! I love the glamor of the characters in the photographs; men and women alike are on show but with a sense of ease that is compelling to look at. At first glance, it could be the South of France but digging deeper it is a pool surrounded by a grey urban landscape which creates this sense of a jewel existing in the concrete. And then understanding that it is in fact a pool in Moscow adds another layer of intrigue—a city mostly portrayed as a place of politics and cold weather.
The work of Chiao Su unfolds like a cinematic narrative, where people, buildings, and landscapes quietly drift by. With sharp black and white contrast, each image exudes a stillness, drawing you in and sparking a captivating curiosity about what might come next.
The images in Kalum Ko’s photo story “Close to Home” feel like stills from a quietly introspective movie — and that makes sense because he is also a film-maker and videographer. This work is a look back at life in the remote small town in the Canadian Rockies where he grew up (he now lives and works in NYC). Many of the pictures feel especially cinematic in their scope and intimacy as they exert a push-and-pull emotional charge that alternates between magnetism and claustrophobia. One shot zeroes in on a solitary worker in a sunlit field, lost in thought, and another zooms out to a panoramic scene of an immense factory surrounded by suburban homes, and in the distance, mountains that seem to go on forever. I think it’s more complicated than it looks.
While judging the 2024 Emerging Talent Awards, I was especially moved by Austin Quintana’s project Rocío on the rural mountain communities of northern New Mexico. The poetic images document all the living beings—human and more-than-human—that call the region home. The work thoughtfully reflects upon the American Southwest, highlighting the uncertainty and fragility of life in this raw and changing landscape.
Ramona Jingru Wang’s vibrant and intimate photographs of Asian subjects are both exuberant and sophisticated. Wang’s images reveal a precise attention to light, color, gesture, and setting, while engaging in a refreshingly optimistic exploration of outsider identity, celebrating and at times satirizing the idea of Asian ‘otherness.’ The thoughtful balance of performance, play, representation, and fantasy creates a complex and exciting project that recasts cultural narratives with levity and elegance.
Zayira Ray’s series interthread offers a tender yet joyful expression of diasporic allyship within the South Asian community. Through hand painted backdrops, with staged images juxtaposed against more candid moments, Ray’s series invites viewers to reflect on the complexities of migration, provoking us to consider what can be lost, gained or reimagined.
I was drawn to The South Is Infinite Yet Finite by Zhu Gaocanyue because of its mysterious and sometimes haunting photographs. The work invites its viewers to engage actively with the photographs, to ask questions, and make connections based on their own understanding or experiences. I was intrigued by this interplay that creates space for multiple truths and meanings to coexist.
The caliber of work submitted for the Emerging Talent Awards this year was outstanding. The entries provided a profound reflection of our times, exploring themes of kinship, community, and the realities of loss. Together, they provoke us to consider how these deeply sensitive narratives intersect and reflect our everyday lives.”
Our International Jury
Sophie Parker has over ten years’ experience in the art world curating and organizing exhibitions, events and workshops, ranging in a variety of subjects from fine art, photography and performance art to history and politics. Sophie joined Photo London in 2018 as the Gallery Development Manager and was appointed Associate Director in 2021. Prior to Photo London, Sophie worked at Cristea Roberts gallery, RA Magazine, and Lewisham Local History Society.
Sophie has a Masters degree in Anthropology and Cultural Politics from Goldsmiths, University of London and a BA Hons in History of Art and Design from Manchester Metropolitan University. She currently sits on the Advisory Board for The Ian Parry Photojournalism Grant.
Noa Lin is assistant editor at Aperture, where he works in the book program. He has helped edit numerous photobooks, most recently, I’m So Happy You Are Here: Japanese Women Photographers from the 1950s to Now, Paul Sepuya: Dark Room A–Z, and Arielle Bobb-Willis: Keep the Kid Alive. He is a regular contributor to The PhotoBook Review in Aperture magazine. Before joining Aperture in 2022, he was an editorial assistant at Melcher Media. Noa holds a BA in studio art and English from Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut.
Dr. Rebecca Swift, Senior Vice President, Creative, leads content creation used in award‑winning advertising, design and editorial around the world. Working closely with creators and art creators globally, Rebecca plays a critical role in ensuring that Getty Images is continually evolving and provides fresh relevant content, which in turn engages and inspires communicators around the globe.
With over 20 years of experience in the photography industry, Rebecca was one of the founding members of the creative research team at Getty Images, introducing and steering visual research methodology within the industry.
Rebecca is passionate about the importance of diversity and inclusion in front of and behind the lens, and is particularly interested in evolving visual representation of women. She is the lead on the #ShowUs partnership with Dove that has won over 40 international creative awards including a Glass Lion and two Effies.
Rebecca enjoys sharing the Creative Insights team’s research at industry events as well as working with academic researchers and lectures around the world. Rebecca has been recognized as one of AdAge’s “20 Women to Watch” and is a Campaign magazine’s Female Frontier honouree as well as being awarded the “Most Influential Leader in UK Visual Media”.
Rebecca has a PhD in Photography.
Bindi Vora is an interdisciplinary photographic artist of Kenyan-Indian heritage, Associate Lecturer at London College of Communication and Curator at Autograph, a London-based non-profit arts charity that explores issues of identity, representation, human rights and social justice through photography. Since joining Autograph, she has curated Hélène Amouzou: Voyages (2023) Eric Gyamfi: Fixing Shadows – Julius and I (2023), Poulomi Basu: Fireflies (2022), co-curated Sasha Huber: You Name It (2022) Care I Contagion I Community – Self & Other (2021-2022); Lola Flash: [sur]passing and Maxine Walker: Untitled (both 2019); published a series artist conversations with Sasha Huber, Mónica Alcázar-Duarte, Maryam Wahid, Tobi Alexandra Falade, David Uzochukwu amongst others. She has independently curated Poulomi Basu: Centralia for Rencontres d’Arles – Louis Roederer Discovery Award (2020); Let’s Go Through This Again (2018); her writing has appeared in publications by Maryam Wahid Zaibuinnisa (MAC, 2022); Another Country: British Documentary Photography Since 1945 (Thames & Hudson); FOAM and British Journal of Photography, participating in public programmes for Tate, GRAIN Photo Hub, The Photographers’ Gallery, The Paul Mellon Centre amongst others. She is currently an artist-in-residence at the National Museums NI (Ulster Museum) as part of the 20/20 project, led by the UAL Decolonising Arts Institute.
Jehan is currently the visuals director at The Atlantic where she oversees photography and art for the publication’s daily stories, digital features and special projects.
Before joining The Atlantic, Jehan was the picture and visuals editor at the Guardian US. She has also worked as a photo editor at National Geographic, where she contributed to the publication’s environment coverage, and she began her career as a digital photo editor at The New Yorker.
Jehan loves discovering, developing and championing new work — she does portfolio reviews throughout the year and has been on the jury for the Catchlight Global Fellowship, the Overseas Press Club Awards and the Alexia Grant, among others. She has spoken about her work at Columbia University, Smith College and Massachusetts College of Art, and she is on the Professional Advisory Board for the Smith College Journalism concentration.
Born and raised in Islamabad, Pakistan, Jehan graduated from Smith College with a degree in Studio Art and Government.
Claartje van Dijk is Senior Curator at Foam Photography Museum in Amsterdam, where she has curated several notable exhibitions, including Felipe Romero Beltrán - Dialect (2024), Ara Guler - A Play of Light and Shadow (2023), and Mous Lamrabat - Blessings from Mousganistan (2022), among others. Before her current role, Claartje served as Assistant Curator of Collections at the International Center of Photography (ICP) in New York. There, she curated a range of exhibitions, including Elliott Erwitt: Pittsburgh (2018) and Your Mirror: Portraits from the ICP Collection (2019). Claartje has served as a juror for several prestigious awards, including The Lucie Foundation, the BJP International Photography Award, and Prix Pictet.
Erin Hoyt is an arts administrator specializing in contemporary photography. She is currently the Executive Director of Filter Photo, a non-profit arts organization based in Chicago that focuses on professional development practices for fine art and documentary photographers. The organization hosts the annual Filter Photo Festival and runs Filter Space, a gallery and project space for exhibitions, workshops, artist talks, and other diverse programming centered around contemporary photography. At Filter, Erin manages an ongoing series of exhibitions, artist lectures, professional development workshops, and portfolio reviews.
Erin is also an avid collector of contemporary photography and participates in national and international conferences including Paris Photo, AIPAD, Art Basel and has served as a reviewer for Chico Reviews, Photo NOLA and Atlanta Photography Group.
Jim Casper is the editor-in-chief of LensCulture, one of the leading online destinations to discover contemporary photography from around the world. As an active member in the contemporary photography world, Casper organizes annual international photography events, travels around the world to meet with photographers and review their portfolios, curates art exhibitions, writes about photography and culture, lectures, conducts workshops, serves as an international juror and nominator for key awards, and is an advisor to arts and education organizations.
