Awards: International Photography Exhibition 164

Natcha Wongchanglaw is a Thailand-born, US-based visual artist, who incorporates herself and her experiences to explore the themes of home, culture, community, identity, and the relationship between people and places.

On receiving the IPE award Natcha said:

"In addition to knowing that my work has been chosen for the exhibition where the work of the world's most renowned photographers, including Roger Fenton and Paul Strand, was once exhibited, I am thrilled and deeply humbled to have received the IPE Award. I can't even begin to express how grateful and honored I am. I am extremely thankful that my work has been recognized and appreciated by the panel and RPS, and that I can also share it with a wider audience."

The selection panel awarded Natcha's series Couchsurfing Hosts which explores a group of people in New York and the surrounding area who open up their homes to travelers in exchange for the opportunity to learn and share cultures.

Siqi Li has been awarded the Under 30s IPE Award for her series Empty Nest. The selection panel were all drawn to the incredibly intimate series.

Empty Nest explores the larger and more complex longing, intimacy and insecurities in family life, and sheds light on the traumas the one-child-policy has imposed on many Chinese families. While navigating the intricacies that emerge through our past and memories, it is a reflection and discussion on accepting new identities in familial relationships and the less talked about negotiations in family life.

Siqi Li is based between London and Beijing. Her work embodies sensitive meanings within aesthetically engaging image making, exploring themes around loss, separation and belonging through intimate storytelling that projects and responds to a larger cultural and society context.