International Photography Exhibition 163

Originally from Mexico, Monica lives and works in the UK. She studied Film-making, Scenography and Photography. Her photobook Your Photos could be used by Drug Dealers was acquired in 2014 for artist book collections at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, The Yale University Gallery and the Joan Flasch Collection at the Arts Institute of Chicago.

Most recently, in 2020, Monica was nominated for a National Geographic Fellowship and awarded a Firecracker Grant. In 2019, she was awarded the Lucie Foundation Chroma Luxe scholarship, obtained a National Geographic Arena award and exhibited Ascension - an interactive AR installation - at the RPS.

Monica was selected as one of ten artists for Les Recontres d’Arles New Discovery Award in 2018 and the previous year she obtained The Photographers’ Gallery Bar-Tur Photobook Award alongside the Magnum Graduate Award.

Monica is a nominator for the Joop Swart Masterclass - a week-long intensive program, which identifies, supports, and educates new talent in the field of documentary photography, visual journalism, and visual storytelling.

Sebah is a Freelance Creative Producer and Curator. She has worked at international world-class festivals, projects and events. She is Co-Founder and Co-Director of ReFramed, a photographic visual arts network in the Midlands, supporting the community and artists who are Black, Asian, or from other ethnic minorities.

She was recently Creative Producer for The Place I Call Home, a British Council funded project with Ffotogallery, connecting the UK to the Gulf region - resulting in 10 exhibitions, in 7 countries, between Sept 2019 - Mar 2020.

Sebah was Festival Coordinator at FORMAT Festival between 2013 - 2017 and continues to work as a freelancer for FORMAT, organising the UK’s largest annual portfolio review.

She is an avid networker and an advocate for the promotion of emerging artists, particularly Black, Asian and people of colour, encouraging both artists and others to get involved in the art scene. Currently Sebah is Chair of 1623 theatre company Advisory Board; Steering Group member, FORMAT Festival; and Board Member, Redeye Photography Network.

Due to an unforeseen change in our schedule, Tim is unable to attend the print selection. We thank him for his contribution to the selection process and look forward to working with him in the future. 

Tim Clark is a writer, editor and curator based in London. Since 2008 he has been Editor-in-Chief at 1000 Words.

Recent exhibitions include Mutable: Multiple curated with Louise Fedotov-Clements for FORMAT International Photography Festival; Who’s looking at the family, now? as part of Photo50 at London Art Fair; and Max Pinckers: Margins of Excess for Lishui Art Museum, China, all during 2019.

Tim worked as a curatorial advisor on Masculinities: Liberation through Photography (2020) at the Barbican Centre London. He was a Guest Curator at Guernsey Photography Festival 2020; a member of the Artistic Committee for Fotografia Europea 2021 in Reggio Emilia, Italy, together with Diane Dufour and Walter Guadagnini; and currently preparing an exhibition for the Portuguese Centre of Photography, Porto during the Ci.CLO Bienal 2021.

Tim is also a lecturer at The Institute of Photography, Falmouth University. His latest book, Curator Conversations, was released in February.

Joy Gregory is a graduate of Manchester Polytechnic and the Royal College of Art. She has developed a practice which is concerned with social and political issues with reference to history and cultural differences in contemporary society.

Born in the UK to Jamaican parents, she has always been fascinated by the impact of European history and colonisation on global perceptions of identity, memory, folk and traditional knowledge. As a photographer she makes full use of the media from video, digital and analogue photography to Victorian print processes.

Joy has worked in art education for almost three decades and was an Honorary Research Associate at Slade School of Art [UCL] where she developed new work for the Diaspora Pavilion at the 57th Venice Biennale in 2017.

She is the recipient of numerous awards, including a NESTA Fellowship, and has exhibited all over the world in many festivals and biennales. Her work is in many collections including; the UK Arts Council; V&A; Institute of Modern Art, Australia; and Yale British Art Collection.

She currently lives and works in London where she teaches Fine Art Photography at Camberwell School of Art, University of the Arts London.

Michael has been involved in photography for his whole career. He started as a photography specialist at Christie’s auction house where he curated auctions internationally. He has written and lectured on many aspects of the history of photography in the UK and abroad and holds a PhD in the history of photography. He has a particular knowledge of British photography but his interests extend across Western, Asian and African historical and contemporary photography. 

He has worked in a photographic studio and brings a practical and working knowledge of studio and location photography, both analogue and digital, along with darkroom work and alternative processes.

Michael has been a guest selector for many exhibitions including; the HIPA Awards; Travel Photographer of the Year; Food Photographer of the Year; International Photography Awards; Lucie Awards; ArtGemini Prize and Earth Photo. He has also been a selector and curator of festival exhibitions and exhibitions in China.

Michael leads the RPS's education and public programmes. He is also the founder of the online community, British Photographic History.

"It's an incredible honor to not only be a part of an historic exhibition but to also have my work recognized by such an esteemed committee. The support and resources of The RPS has encouraged me to continue pushing myself and my work in ways that weren’t possible before. I'm incredibly grateful for this opportunity to share my interpretation of what it means to be human on this strange and fantastic planet."
Cody Cobb, USA

"As any other debut project, the work follows many long periods of experimenting, indecision and risk. It’s a privilege to have it be given this level of recognition and platform for outreach and exposure - especially amongst the high standard of photography in this year’s RPS exhibition."
Chirag Jindal, New Zealand

"I am extremely grateful to be awarded the Gold RPS Award from such a strong line up. I really rated the names on the judging panel and the other photographers that participated. I hoped they’d see something engaging in terms of the background story behind this project as Nevis itself is so steeped in history, so I feel both delighted and very humbled to be selected for the award."
Catherine Hyland, UK

"I was so shocked to hear that I had won the award – so many of my friends and peers who were also shortlisted produce such incredible work; I wasn't expecting it at all. I can't explain how happy I am for having the project recognised by such a prestigious organisation and also how grateful I am for the prize. It is going to go a long way to helping me fund my next project in the States."
Chris Bethell, UK

“I’m delighted that what began as a very quiet and personal study of devotion has achieved this recognition. The RPS has such a rich history and respected reputation and I’m excited to exhibit work alongside other international photographers whose work I admire.”
Alys Tomlinson, UK