Now in its 8th year, British Journal of Photography’s International Photography Award 2012 is now open for entries. 
Photographers may enter projects on any topic, and there are two categories to choose from: one awarding the best series of images, and the other the best single image. Both winners will be exhibited at Foto8 Gallery for two weeks and will be able to keep their printed work after the show.
Last year’s winners were Chloe Dewe Mathews and Facundo Arrizabalaga. “There are so many competitions around that have long lists of winners, highly commended, shortlisted and so on, and over endless categories, so it felt great to be given a prize with only one winner [in two categories],” says Dewe Mathews, who won the series prize with a project on life around the Caspian sea. “I was lucky to have the support of BJP, Spectrum and Foto8, all giving me advice and putting energy into creating and publicising the show.
“Having the show itself was a great opportunity to bring people to see the Caspian project in an immersive environment, printed beautifully and hanging in Foto8’s new space. It was invaluable, considering most of the time people flick through your work for a matter of seconds on a website.”
The IPA has been running since 2005, and previous winners include Edmund Clark, whose series Guantanamo: If the lights go out went on to be published by Dewi Lewis; and Peter di Campo, who won the series prize in 2010 with a project on Life Without Lights in Ghana. Facundo Arrizabalaga won the single image prize last year with a shot from the student protests of November 2010, and Walter Astrada picked up the single image award in 2008 with an image depicting a victim of matricide in Guatemala.
The IPA is judged by a rolling panel of photography experts, which last year included Alexia Singh, editor-in-charge of the Wider Image Desk at Thomson Reuters, and Monica Allende, picture editor of The Sunday Times Magazine. The prize is generously supported by Spectrum Photographic, one of the leading photography labs in Europe, and by Foto8 Gallery in East London.
The closing date this year is 15 September 2012. For more information, and to enter online, visit www.bjp-online.com/ipa.
