‘After a seizure Cathreen sleeps’ from the series Small Town Inertia by Jim Mortram
The latest RPS Documentary Photography Awards (DPA) offers insight into communities around the globe – from children living in the shadow of the Scottish Parliament to an Iranian medical team during the Covid-19 crisis.
Nine portfolios have been recognised in three categories – RPS Member, Student and Open – with recipients offering fresh perspectives on life, often in their own environments. This year 3,000 images were submitted by photographers from or based in Bangladesh, China, Gaza, Italy, Oman, the UK and the USA.
The selection panel included Mimi Mollica, photographer, lecturer and director of PhotoMeet; and Ellen Stone, creative director of Side Gallery.
Mark Phillips FRPS, chair of the RPS Documentary Group, said: “The selected projects are diverse, ranging from the trauma of conflict, austerity and disease to changes in our environment and its impact, or different perspectives on communities, culture and ourselves.
“They provide an insight into the range of what can be documentary and how the genre can be used to tell stories, ask questions and reveal the unfamiliar.”
A DPA touring exhibition will feature curated images from the nine successful portfolios. Confirmed venues include The Heritage Gallery, Middlesbrough, 7 June-3 July; Eden Court, Inverness, 6 July-2 August; The Smith Gallery, Stirling Photography Festival, 18 August-27 September; and Oriel Colwyn, Wales, 3-30 September.
Below, the award recipients each tell the story behind one image from their winning portfolio.
RPS MEMBER CATEGORY
From the series Bellwether by John Harrison
“This photograph belongs to a series I’ve been working on since 2021, in Lancashire, UK. Bellwether presents a contemporary portrayal of the UK in microcosm. Here, I was drawn to the fortress-like architecture punctuated by flags and bunting draped along the walls of a bowling green. The green belongs to Rishton’s Conservative Club, a recruiting station for the Accrington Pals. I think the photograph speaks to the UK’s imperial and military history, but also the current zeitgeist of uncertainty.”
From the series Ov’era by Jacopo Locarno
“Ov’era – meaning ‘where it was’ – reflects on a landscape threatened by erasure. Milan Malpensa Airport, once surrounded by forests and heathlands, now faces further destruction under the Masterplan 2035 expansion. I was born nearby, and this landscape has long embodied my sense of belonging and personal memory. For Salvatore, aged 77, whose home stands just 300m from a runway, remaining there is an act of quiet resistance. He tends his garden in a ‘non-living zone’, preserving a fragile bond with the land. My work seeks to remember what disappears while honouring what endures in silence.”
From the series Anxious Frames by Amin Nazari
“This image was taken during the height of the Covid-19 crisis in Iran, where medical teams were working under relentless pressure. The staff are trying to stabilise an elderly patient whose condition is rapidly deteriorating. What drew me to this moment was the combination of urgency, exhaustion and determination in the healthcare team. Throughout the pandemic, scenes such as this revealed the fragile boundary between life and death, and the heavy emotional burden carried by those on the frontline.”
STUDENT CATEGORY
From the series The Place Where I Used To Play by Jubair Ahmed Arnob
“A once-thriving river has been buried under concrete as profit-driven development reshapes the city. In its place now stands a neon-lit amusement park where families and children enjoy rides and music, largely unaware of the waterway that once sustained life beneath this ground. The bubbles floating through the night air capture a brief, ironic joy – fragile moments masking a deeper loss. More than recreation, the park reflects capitalism’s power to rewrite landscapes.” (Dhaka, Bangladesh, August 15, 2025)
From the series Dumbiedykes by Ritchie Elder
“A group of children playing on the Dumbiedykes estate, Edinburgh, on the same street where my mum grew up. I photographed this scene on a summer evening with permission from their parents and guardians. I was a frequent visitor to the estate as a child, so it felt natural to engage with residents, including children. It was important to me to represent the younger generation in this project, acknowledging the role young people play in the community’s future.”
From the series The Sea Sustains Us by Tianxiao Wang
“Every afternoon Emen, aged 16, practises traditional whaling techniques alone, leaping off the rocks into the sea again and again. Becoming a whale hunter is not about proving our skills to others. It is about carrying the weight of tradition – piercing through the modern world’s misconceptions with a harpoon.”
OPEN CATEGORY
‘After a seizure Cathreen sleeps’ from the series Small Town Inertia by Jim Mortram (see main image, above)
“This image is from an ongoing, 15-year amplification of a marginalised community’s testimony as they face the harsh realities of successive governments’ welfare policies. Gabby, Cathreen’s husband, says: ‘From 1995, she was having five, ten seizures, up to 40 a day not including the absences. I would come home and see her walking up the road and she didn’t even know where she was. The state didn’t help at all, just made a bad situation much worse, added to the stress. It’s what gave me all my breakdowns. Then we had to do it all again with PIP. I trust politicians as far as you can spit – they’re in it for themselves.’”
From the series Faces of Genocide: Gaza’s Silent Testimony by Abdelraharman Alkahlout
“After surviving intense airstrikes on their neighbourhood in southern Gaza, displaced Palestinian families gather to pray collectively on the ruins of a mosque destroyed by an Israeli airstrike. What was once a place of peace and refuge now lies in rubble, yet their message is clear – steadfastness and faith endure despite the destruction. This scene reflects the unwavering resilience of people who continue to worship and hold onto hope during the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza.”
From the series Memories of Dust by Alex Bex
“When people first look at this photograph they see a cowboy. What they don’t know is that the person portrayed is Baru, a female rancher I stayed with in Abilene, Texas. One afternoon she took out an old rifle she kept on her ranch and showed me what a ‘real cowboy’ looks like. This image is the only one in my series on masculinity featuring a woman, and it is also its most stereotypical portrayal of the traditional male cowboy.”
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