To Shine a Light / Who Dared to Dream

To Shine a Light / Who Dared to Dream is a  new exhibition curated by the Royal Photographic Society showcases the work of six contemporary female photographic artists. For these artists photography is a means of shining a light on themselves, both as a tool for understanding and as one for engagement.

This show presents photographic projects which explore personal stories and histories or seek to effect wider change by raising public awareness. The artists present their themes using a breadth of different approaches including documentary, conceptual, self-portraiture, landscape and the layering of images and artificial intelligence (AI) generated details. 

The exhibition projects cover a range of themes: Medical conditions and the physical and mental impact on individuals, the environmental impact of discarded plastic on our beaches, society’s negative views of older women, an exploration of love and feelings, and a rediscovered family album as a key to understanding the artist's parents.

The RPS Women in Photography group publication WE ARE celebrated the featured artist from To Shine a Light / Who Dared to Dream in the September Issue of the magazine. 

The featured article highlights all six artist including the three RPS Women in Photography group members, sharing information about the work alongside gallery install images.

We are delighted that three of the exhibitors in To Shine a Light / Who Dared to Dream are members of the Royal Photographic Society Women in Photography Group.

The RPS Women in Photography Group aims to facilitate the celebration, education and collaboration of female and female-identifying photographers. 

The RPS Women in Photography Group are part of the discussion that drives a greater awareness of the importance of women photographers past, present and future.

Trish Crawford is a Canadian photographer based in the Niagara region of Southern Ontario at the confluence of Lakes Ontario and Erie.

Her photographic work looks at family, place of origin, women's lives, and the intersection of rural and urban life. She is currently researching an upcoming documentary project on the local family physician crisis.

Her work has been exhibited locally at St Catharines City Hall, The Niagara Pumphouse (Art at the Pumphouse) and The Exchange (Niagara Falls Night of Art). Outside of Canada, her photographs have been part of exhibits at the RPS Summer Exhibition (Bristol, 2023), We Are Magazine (RPS Women in Photography 2024), Source magazine MA/MFA Graduate Review, Shutter Hub To the Sea, (France, 2023-2024), Shutter Hub Yearbook - 2024, Shutter Hub Open at Cambridge University (Cambridge, England 2023-2024). She also has been awarded several honourable mentions and one category win (iPhone series) for her work by the Julia Margaret Cameron Awards (2023 & 2024).

Trish’s day job is in the Development Department at the Shaw Festival Theatre in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. She holds a BA in Political Science from Brock University, an MA in photography from Falmouth University and the ARPS distinction from the Royal Photographic Society.

She lives in an old house with her husband, two senior pets, and three young adults at various stages of leaving the nest.

Caroline Fraser’s photography is a response to the beauty and infinite variety of nature, coupled with aconcern for the environment. Her quiet representations of mood and location place an emphasis on the intimate details within nature, using abstraction and layering. Multiple exposures add depth and complexity to her work. Her current project explores the sea shore at Camber Sands from an environmental perspective. She is a committed litter picker!

Her love of remote landscapes has taken her to the highlands of Scotland, Iceland, New Zealand, Greenland, and many times to Vancouver where her children now live. She adds meaning to her work by combining images and words in limited edition handmade books.

She has exhibited widely in the Unirted Kingdom,and has been featured in On Landscape and Outdoor Photography magazines. She has undertaken artist residencies in Switzerland, Wales and Vashon Island, Seattle. She is winner of the non-professional ‘abstract and still life’ category of the Julia Margaret Cameron Awards 2024. Caroline works from her studio in Rye, UK, where she runs hand-made book and photo book making workshops ‘Say it with Books’, both in-person and online.

Fion Hung-Ching Yan works primarily in staged photography and photo collage, presenting work in the forms of installations and books. Her practice challenges the nature of humanity, inspired by the traditional stereotypes she encountered as a woman in Chinese society, family trauma, and conflicts with others in daily life. Hung is currently studying the discredited concept of eugenics and how it influences society’s treatment and understanding of disabilities, especially for those who inherit genetic disorders, under capitalism in the modern world.​

​Fion Hung-Ching Yan is a visual artist, a researcher, and an art educator. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Hon) in Visual Arts from Hong Kong Baptist University in 2016 and completed a Master's degree in Photography from the London College of Communication, UAL, in 2023. Her artworks have been exhibited internationally, including the Chiang Mai Photo Festival 2017, Hong Kong International Photo Festival 2020, FORMAT Photo Festival 2020, and Copenhagen Photo Festival 2020. Her project The Skeletons In The Closet(2021-2022) was selected as one of the finalists of the Hahnemühle Student Award and was exhibited in Photo London in 2023. It is also shown as a solo show at the South London Gallery as part of Peckham24's programs in 2023. Hung is currently teaching photography in the Academy of Visual Arts of Hong Kong Baptist University and the Hong Kong Metropolitan University.

Tasha Hylton is a Bristol-based photographer whose work mainly focuses on portraiture and fashion. She brings a passion to capture up close and intimate images of her subjects which helps her build a connection to create strong images. She credits this with helping her to win the British Journal of Photography’s Portrait of Britain award in 2022. 

As she grows as a photographer, she aims to spend more time exploring subjects around her own personal experiences, race, culture and identity as a black female photographer. She wants to create visual stories to express moments and feelings to share with her audience.

Ayesha Jones is an artist based in the West Midlands. She works predominantly with photography and film and is interested in art as a catalyst for growth, healing and social impact.

Jones’ work has been exhibited nationally and internationally and she has won awards, including Magnum Photos and The Photography Show’s 30 under 30 international award, and the British Journal of Photography’s Portrait of Britain and Decade of Change.

She has recently worked on commissions with Ikon Gallery, Gaia Foundation, Multistory, Comic Relief, Belgrade Theatre and Eastside Projects.

Rachel Nixon is a British-Canadian fine art photographer – and former journalist – based in Vancouver. Having lived and worked across continents and cultures, she explores issues such as a desire for connection with one’s heritage, as well as secrecy, isolation and memory. She is intrigued by the visual poetry of daily life and seeks out images speaking to beauty and broader messages in the seemingly mundane.

In 2019, Nixon graduated with honours from the VanArts professional photography program in Vancouver. Since then, her work has been exhibited internationally, and she has received a number of accolades including being a four-time category winner in the Julia Margaret Cameron Awards. In 2024, she was named among Dodho Magazine’s top 100 fine art photographers.

She also brings her editorial and photographic experience to her volunteer role as Editor of WE ARE Magazine, the publication of the Royal Photographic Society’s Women in Photography group.