The Photographers’ Gallery launches new talent exhibition

An isolated island in the South Pacific and Post-Soviet communities are among the subjects explored in the first TPG New Talent scheme, which showcases eight promising UK-based artists in a new exhibition

The Photographers’ Gallery in London is on the cusp of launching TPG New Talent, its first exhibition and mentoring scheme specifically aimed at showcasing and nurturing emerging photographers based in the UK. Eight individuals were selected by both the Photographers’ Gallery curatorial team and American visual artist and Magnum photographer Jim Goldberg. Each will receive a year’s worth of mentoring, and have also earned a spot in a forthcoming exhibition at the gallery.

Photography is a central part of each of the artists’ practices, but the similarities end there as the form and subject of their work varies across the board. Irish photographer Rhiannon Adam draws upon multimedia formats in her social documentary, offering a remarkable depiction of life on Pitcairn Island, an isolated British overseas territory in the South Pacific with a complicated history.

The Loneliest Child in the World, Cushana Warren-Peu by Rhiannon Adam, from the series Big Fence/Pitcairn Island, 2015-2018
By Giovanna Petrocchi, from the series Private Collection, 2018

Giovanna Petrocchi makes use of both personal and found photography which, using a combination of traditional and modern techniques, she reimagines into new imagery with its own character. Elsewhere, Chiara Avagliano looks to bridge the gap between art and nature in her delicate work.

Alberto Feijóo blends photography with found objects and cultural artifacts as a way of tracing and reinterpreting the past, while South Korean-born artist Seungwon Jung also takes inspiration from time, using fabric and stitching to elevate the sense of memory and the passing of time in her photography.

The photographers home in on a range of people and places around the world too, from Miguel Proença’s idiosyncratic portrayals of post-Soviet life to Adama Jollah’s insight into South London communities, by way of a knowingly voyeuristic take on the Calais crisis by Alice Myers.

An esteemed social documentary photographer, Jim Goldberg was a fitting choice to sit on the judging panel. “I was wonderfully surprised and impressed by the scope of the work submitted for TPG New Talent, which offered a wide range of ambitious and thought-provoking photography,” Goldberg said. “The diversity of applicants and their working methodologies, mediums, and materials, gave me hope that artists are certainly not running out of ideas on how to represent the world – and their places within it – any time soon. I look forward to seeing more from these promising artists.”

TPG New Talent is on display at The Photographers’ Gallery from June 14 – October 6; thephotographersgallery.org.uk