Art / Royal Photographic Society
International contemporary photography exhibition to open at the Royal Photographic Society
The 164th edition of the International Photography Exhibition (IPE) will open at the Royal Photographic Society (RPS) Gallery on January 28.
The celebrated annual group exhibition has been running almost without a break since its inception in 1864, and has become a truly prestigious indicator of talent in the field.
IPE 164 received over 6,000 images to the open call for submissions, whittled down anonymously by a specialist guest panel: Mariama Attah (curator, Open Eye Gallery), Amak Mahmoodian (artist), Ryan Prince (portrait and documentary photographer) and Dr Michael Pritchard, RPS Director of Programmes and photohistorian.
is needed now More than ever
Tree Huggers from the Future, Scotland, 2022 – photo: George McLeod
Lou and Paisley – photo: Owen Harvey
The pool was reduced to 762 photographs, shot by a shortlist of 314 photographers in 48 countries.
The entrants were eligible for a wide array of prizes, from financial awards to exposure, peer recognition and RPS photographic commissions.
Amongst the most significant accolades, Siqi Li was bestowed the Under 30s Award for her emotionally impactful Empty Nest series on family and ageing, and Natcha Wongchanglaw was given the IPE 164 Award for her series Couchsurfing Hosts.
Less Question More Fun – photo: Natcha Wongchanglaw
The Death Of A Beautiful Thing – photo: Siqi Li
The IPE 164 exhibition will feature 103 images from 46 photographers. Emergent themes of the collection include identity, cultural heritage, sexuality and gender, mental health, and environmental and political issues.
A range of practices can be seen, including traditional analogue photography and alternative techniques, from cyanotypes to collage.
Birling Gap, East Dean, East Sussex – photo: Alex Currie
Local Graveyard -Sarajevo – photo: Nicholas Constant
To mark the opening of the exhibition, there will be a programme of talks from participating photographers, as well as family-friendly activities.
The next instalment in the series – IPE 165, is open for entries from February 7 onwards.
Faith – photo: Max Miechowski
Ice #1 – photo: Carles Mitjà
The International Photography Exhibition 164 is at The RPS Gallery from January 28-May 7. The gallery is open Thursday-Sunday 10am-5pm, and is free to attend. You can read more about the exhibiting photographers here.
Main photo: Frederic Aranda
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