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Graduate focuses on Last of the London Racers

Meet one of the image-makers emerging from photography courses across the globe

From the series Last of the London Racers by Rachel Beeson


As the Class of 2023 enters a world increasingly defined by images and the complexities of AI, we meet one graduate with a bright future.

Rachel Beeson, 25, is one of nine promising image-makers we are highlighting who are graduating from photography courses across the world. You can meet the others in the July/August issue of the RPS Journal in our celebration of emerging talent.

Beeson, a psychology graduate who has been studying for a Master’s in Socially Engaged Photography at the University of Salford, is particularly proud of her series Last of the London Racers. Here, she explains why.

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“I am inspired by the quirkiness of British culture, particularly working-class culture, and tend to embed this in my projects. I’m especially proud of Last of the London Racers, the series I worked on during my foundation year at University of the Arts London, about an old-school racing stadium set to be demolished that year.

“The last of its kind in London, it had been a big part of the community for decades. I’d originally set out to document the stadium itself, but I ended up immersed in the stories of the people who’d frequented it for many years and it felt close to home as my grandad had been one of them.

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“That set the tone for the way I wanted to work photographically in the future. I love that photography is a social art form. It’s a powerful tool for empathy, creating a conversation with the public in a way that can bring about a sense of understanding.

“I’m working with Redeye to create a series of talks dedicated to representation in photography. When I graduate I’d love to work for British Journal of Photography and to shoot stories for the Guardian and National Geographic. In my personal practice I would also love to work on a long-term project collaborating with the people around me on a topic we feel is close to us, and then get that work published or exhibited.”

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All images from the series Last of the London Racers by Rachel Beeson

 

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