The exhibition opens on Monday 18th November and will feature black and white images submitted by the public on the universal theme of ‘Hope’.
Following the success of their 2022 photography competition and exhibition, Freedom, The National Justice Museum has announced the opening date for a brand-new open call photography exhibition. Picture This: Hope aims to capture the essence of hope from different perspectives across the UK, showcasing the work of both professional and amateur photographers as they explore what hope means to them.
Back in June, the Museum launched a public call-out for black and white photographs on the theme of hope, with the promise that every photo submitted would be included in the exhibition. In response photographers from around the UK, from professionals to amateurs, submitted their images. True to their word, the Museum will exhibit every image in their free to enter gallery from Monday 18th November 2024 until March 2025.
From glorious shots of friendship and family, breathtaking nature, and thought-provoking abstracts, the submissions form a collection that encompasses multiple interpretations of what hope means to people from all different backgrounds, experience, and ages.
Through the competition, there are three amazing opportunities available – The People’s Choice Award, which is open to everyone who submitted work and selected by public vote; and two prizes awarded by a panel of prestigious judges – The Creative Residency Prize with a £1000 budget; and The Young Persons Award, open to people aged 10 to 18 years old at the point of entry, with a first prize of £100. The judging panel includes last year’s competition winner Francesca Hummler, London-based artist, and photographer Anthony Luvera, and ‘Godfather of Black British Photography’ Vanley Burke. Judging is currently taking place, and the competition winners will be announced in an award ceremony in February 2025.
Aimee Wilkinson – Head of Creative Programmes, National Justice Museum, said:
“We are delighted by the exceptional quality and diverse interpretations of the submissions for this year’s photography competition, all centred around the theme of ‘hope.’ The collection offers a powerful and emotional journey, with each artist presenting a unique perspective.
By focusing on black and white photography, we aimed to strip the images down to their essence, allowing light, shadow, and contrast to speak more deeply to the theme. The result is a stunning variety of interpretations, from personal stories of resilience to reflections on community and renewal, from the importance of family and nature to moments of found joy, all showcasing the universal importance of hope.”
Anthony Luvera – Picture This: Hope Judge, said:
“In the image-saturated world we all live in today, stopping to take the time to look closely at a photograph is an opportunity to listen. To listen to a story being told by the photographer. To hear the points of view of the people or place depicted in the image. And to receive information from the organisation, outlet or agency presenting the photograph about how we should engage with what we are shown. Entries to the National Justice Museum’s Picture This: Hope photography competition showed me so many ways of looking at the world I hadn’t seen before. These images encouraged me to consider a multitude of lived experiences outside of my own and inspired me to reconsider what the notion of hope can mean to us all in 2024.”
Anthony Luvera is a socially engaged artist, writer and educator based in London. The long-term collaborative work he creates with individuals and communities has been exhibited widely in galleries, public spaces, and festivals, including Tate Liverpool, British Museum, London Underground’s Art on the Underground, National Portrait Gallery London, Belfast Exposed Photography, Australian Centre for Photography, and Goa International Photography Festival. Anthony is Associate Professor of Photography in the Centre for Arts, Memory and Communities at Coventry University, and editor of Photography For Whom?, a periodical about socially engaged photography. Anthony is Chair of the Education Committee at the Royal Photographic Society, and a Trustee of Photofusion.
Winner of 2022’s Creative Residency Prize, Francesca Hummler is a German-American visual artist, writer, researcher, and curator working with photography currently based in London, England. Interested in issues regarding identity, she draws from her experience as the daughter of German immigrants in the United States to explore the archive, familial intimacy, and generational trauma through her images. Her series “Das Kuckucksei” or “The Cuckoo’s Egg” was published in the January 2024 issue of Artforum magazine. Her latest solo exhibition, “Rituals And Reliquaries”, opened on 4 October 2024, at the Crypt Gallery in London. Since 2022 Hummler has been the Community Manager at Der Greif, an organization for contemporary photography based in Munich, where she leads initiatives designed to support emerging photographers on an international stage. Vanley Burke has lived and worked in Birmingham since 1965, when he moved as a child to the UK from St. Thomas, Jamaica. Often described as the ‘Godfather of Black British photography,’ Burke is one of Britain’s foremost photographers, renowned for creating powerful imagery that exhibits great empathy for his subjects and challenges negative stereotypes toward British Black communities.
Over a decades-long career, Burke has received much praise within the UK and internationally, especially for his striking images of Birmingham, his home city. Burke has had recent solo shows across Birmingham, most recently at Ikon Gallery (2022 & 2015) and Soho House (2022 & 2013 as well as in more publicly accessible settings such as community centres, pubs, and churches across the city. Recent London shows have included at the Victoria & Albert Museum and Whitechapel Gallery. In 2022, Burke was the recipient of a Paul Hamlyn Award for his contribution to Visual Art. His works are held in various collections, including the Tate and the Arts Council, and his personal archive, the Vanley Burke Archive, was recently deposited at the Library of Birmingham.
Picture This: Hope opens on Monday 18th November and is free to enter. For more information, visit www.nationaljusticemuseum.org.uk or the National Justice Museum on High Pavement, Nottingham.
Posted on 21 November 2024
