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Please note: RPS House is closed for our exhibition install. We will be open again from 10am on Friday 9th August 2024.

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Eleri Griffiths
CREDIT: Eleri Griffiths

Joan Wakelin Bursary

Administered by The RPS in partnership with The Guardian. The Joan Wakelin Bursary offers £2000 for the production of a photographic essay on an overseas social documentary issue.

The Bursary was established in 2005 in memory of distinguished documentary photographer and Honorary Fellow of The Society, Joan Wakelin. The Bursary funds new projects only. We do not support on-going projects. The Bursary does not support projects requiring travel to or within war zones. 

In Partnership with the Guardian and supported by Metro Imaging

File:The Guardian 2018.svg - Wikipedia    

On completion of the projects, each recipient will also have the opportunity to have your portfolio printed by Metro Imaging and receive remote mentoring from its director Steve Macleod.

Myah Asha Jeffers sitting on a bench in a black and white photo
CREDIT: Myah Asha Jeffers

2024 - Myah Jeffers

Myah Asha Jeffers

Recipient of the Joan Wakelin Bursary 2024

Project: EXCLUSION ZONE

In 1997, a seismic volcanic eruption destroyed the Caribbean island of Montserrat.

With now only 20% of the island deemed habitable and a current population of just over 5000 people – Montserrat is one of the least populus countries in the world.  The uninhabitable 80% of the island is known as the “Exclusion Zone” - a site of buried infrastructure. It is a graveyard for relics of the past.

Through this series, I’m interested in creating a living archive of sorts, photographing the void of the past through a present-day lens. 

The work will focus on both the younger generation who only know Montserrat post-eruption, and the elders who still hold onto a deep nostalgia of what Montserrat was.

This story will offer a rare insight into one of the few remaining British colonies, interrogating the intersection between the legacy of natural disasters and the legacy of colonialism.

Previous recipients

2005  Michael Nott

2006  Charlie Stewart

2007  Brijesh Patel

2008  Jackie Dewe Mathews

2009  Anastasia Taylor-Lind

2010  Yevgenia Byelorusets

2011  Neil Hall

2012  Oliver Wood

2013  Eleri Griffiths

2014  Manuela Henao Restrepo

2015  John Gallo

2016  Matilda Temperley

2017  Alice Mann

2018  Silvana Trevale

2019  Henri Kisielewski

2020  Judy Ford LRPS

2021  Supratim Bhattacharjee

2022  Owen Harvey