Now in its second year, freshfacedandwildeyed09 is an annual exhibition held at the Photographers’ Gallery in London. The event showcases the work of recent BA and MA photography graduates from across the UK who have been selected by a panel of experts. Following an online submission process, work has been chosen this year by judges including Magda Keany, Assistant Photography Curator at the National Portrait Gallery; Ossian Ward, Visual Arts Editor for Time Out London and the director of the Photographers’ Gallery, Brett Rogers.

In addition to the photography show in Central London, work can also be viewed in a special gallery online. And the UK’s photography graduates are certainly a talented bunch. From documentary photography to portraits, each of the projects is intelligent, insightful and thought-provoking, showing that to be a great photographer certainly requires more than the ability to point and shoot. Subject matter varies widely and addresses serious issues and social ideas as well as more intimate or imaginative moments.

Jessica Layton‘s ‘The House Sitting Project’ is a collection of self-portraits which Layton created whilst looking after people’s homes. Having immersed herself in someone else’s private and personal space, Layton then hired photographers to produce a portrait of her under the identity of each home’s resident in their domestic setting. Her photographs explore how we express our individuality in our private environment and how we can “belong” to our home and vice versa.

Documentary photographer Eleanor Cleasby‘s project ‘The Great Forgetting’ looks at King Leopold II’s legacy in Belgium. His reign spanned over thirty years at the end of the 19th century and was defined by his country’s brutal exploitation of the Congo. However in Belgium little reference is made to the genocidal crimes Leopold ordered which are estimated to have caused 10 million deaths. Her images are eclectic and include photographs of museum exhibits, a cow and the European Parliament in Brussels.Cleasby’s photographs convey the sinister nature of the subject matter whilst simultaneously encapsulating the seeming lack of consideration of this shameful part of Belgium’s history.

Nae Bunthita Indhawong’s series entitled ‘The Relocation of Culture’ explores nationalism and native identities. Her images of Nigerian-born British women dressed in traditional dress to attend Sunday church in Brixton look at the representation of self  and the performance of nationality in London’s multicultural society. The photographs are taken from behind, so that each woman’s identity is represented through her garments.

The Photographers’ Gallery is dedicated to supporting and nurturing emerging talents and if the 23 photographers on show are anything to go by, they seem to be suceeding in this endeavour.

The exhibition runs from June 24th until July 5th.

http://www.photonet.org.uk

The Photographers’ Gallery

16 – 18 Ramillies Street

London W1F 7LW