Focus On Society: the photographic competition which sees the world through the eyes of a young person
The winner of this year's ESRC's 'Focus on Society' photographic competition focused on the transgender experience
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Your support makes all the difference.The same problem always surfaces: the younger generations seem forever robbed of their voices, dismissed as the puppets of naïveté or of impressionability.
ESRC's 'Focus on Society' photography competition hopes to change that; looking to young people aged 14-18 to offer their own perspective on the world around them. To reveal that clarity and perceptiveness which is often ignored; with these year's winner offering an intimate, thoughtful look into the transgender experience.
Joanne Gallagher's 'Stand up for who you are' proved the overall winner, taking home the award of £200 after a special ceremony at the Espacio Gallery in London. "This photo shows that self-confidence and an ability to relax, despite social pressures, can be achieved by being true to who you are," Gallagher, who lives in Norwich, stated.
"Jacqui (in the picture) has stood up to the norms and values of society, having been assigned male gender at birth, in order to become the confident woman she really is."
More than 850 young people took part from across the UK; utilising not only cameras, but tablets and mobile phones, to prove art is not defined by its tools. Other winners included Nimra Shahid, whose photo 'Mein' captures her favourite wall in Kingston-upon-Thames and her own pride in her Pakastani origins; Ella Tilley from Richmond won for '1,642,500 Nights', capturing a pile of matresses which she says, "could have been the start of life for one person but someone else's deathbed."
The winners were picked by Karin Woodley, ESRC Council member and Chief Executive of Cambridge House, a south London charity established in 1889 by Cambridge University to tackle poverty and social injustice; Sophie Batterbury, Head of Pictures at The Independent, i and The Independent on Sunday newspapers; Jacky Clake, Head of Communications for ESRC; Ollie Smallwood, a portrait and documentary photographer; and Jodie Krause, a student who has previously won the last two ESRC photographic competitions.
ESRC, or The Economic and Social Research Council, is the UK's largest funder of research into social and economic issues. The winning photographs will be showcased at the Espacio Gallery in Shoreditch until 13 March.
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