Jennifer Charlton graduated from Robert Gordon University/ Edinburgh College with a BA in Professional Photography in 2023 and went on to be awarded a first-class honours degree through Kingston University and Edinburgh College in 2024. In September she made history becoming the first female and first digital photographer to win the Scottish Portrait Award (Colour) with a portrait of John from her mental health project ‘A Hidden Community’. This ongoing personal project was also placed in the finals of the prestigious AOP student awards and runner up at the Photo North Student Photography competition and garnered attention from ITV, the BBC and Broadsheets. She was awarded an “Outstanding Achievement in Photography” award at her graduation at Edinburgh College is currently Artist in Residence there and has just had her solo exhibition in Stirling.

The most recent recognitions came from The Royal Photographic Society when the single mum of three was awarded Associate Photographer and Chartered Photographer status which is the terminal qualification in photography. Jennifer has experienced four generations of her family being affected by mental health issues and has recently been diagnosed with FND as well as suffering from long covid since 2019. Working as a photographer is, however, essential for her mental health and she is determined to navigate these new challenges and continue to earn a living with her work.

Light Through The Shadows: A life In Focus

Jennifer will share her journey as a photographer, talk about her award-winning project ‘A Hidden Community’ and share her top ten tips she wished someone had told her when she was starting out.

THE MAGICAL ART OF LIGHT PAINTING

Prepare to enter a world where surreal light-sculptures inhabit familiar landscapes. David's colourfulimagination will be on full display during this presentation. He will be discussing in detail both his inspirations and the technical considerations he makes when creating this style of work.

Over the last 15 years David has amassed one of the largest collections of Light Painting tools on the planet andhe will be discussing what camera settings he uses, as well as covering what tools can be used for creatingdifferent effects on different shoots.

Forget photoshop and the editing process in general for the night – this is all about what a photographer can accomplish through the magic of long exposure photography when combined with a sprinkling of imagination(and a little patience).

I graduated from the Glasgow School of Art in 2001 with a BA (Hons) in Fine Art Photography and have been building my career as a professional photographer and artist ever since. Early on I became captivated by macro photography, inspired by the work of David Levinthal, and spent several years of my degree creating images of toys and figurines—a body of work that earned me a reputation as one of the school’s most prolific students. After graduating, I moved to Guernsey for work in offshore finance but stayed creatively active, eventually becoming deeply immersed in long-exposure and light-painting photography. From 2008–2014 I produced a vast nocturnal portfolio and amassed one of the world’s largest collections of Light Painting tools. When my daughter was born in 2014, I shifted my focus back to macro photography, finding ways to create whenever time allowed.

Returning to Scotland in 2015 with my wife Melissa and daughter Lea marked a turning point, and in 2018 I made the leap to becoming a full-time artist. Since then my work has gained international attention through exhibitions, workshops, and commissions for clients such as John Lewis, Sony, Adobe, Samsung, Lexus, Honda, ThreeUK, the Noor Riyadh Festival of Light, and AIDA Cruises. Alongside creating bespoke artworks—my greatest passion—I now regularly teach Creative Photography Workshops across the UK, present to schools, colleges, universities, and camera clubs, and continue to share the magical techniques of Light Painting and Macro Photography. Despite the ups and downs, being a full-time artist feels entirely natural, and I’m continually grateful for every opportunity that comes my way.