Excellence and Innovation Celebrated at 143rd Royal Photographic Society Awards

The Royal Photographic Society is delighted to announce the recipients of its 2021 Awards.

Katie Bouman, Bruce Davidson, Zelda Cheatle, Vanley Burke, Mitra Tabrizian, Phoebe Boswell and Tyler Mitchell are amongst those being celebrated this year.
The Royal Photographic Society Awards are the world’s longest running and most prestigious photography accolades. Now in its 143rd year, the awards recognise individuals working across both still and moving image. The Awards celebrate significant achievements, showcase new and emerging talent, and highlight notable contributions from RPS members.

The 2021 recipients tell remarkable stories, and their work is a testament to the power of photography to inspire, uplift, incite change and bring about personal, social, and cultural wellbeing.

The eighteen categories span different genres and applications of photography, including the recognition of achievements in moving image, new media, science and imaging, education, and curation. The categories continue to evolve to reflect new ways of seeing, making, and sharing photography.

The RPS Awards will be announced online on 26 October 2021 at 1900 (BST) at rps.org/awards.

The RPS Awards winners 2021 are:

Progress Medal
Katie Bouman, for her scientific and technical advancement in photographic imaging. Her involvement in the International Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration in April 2019 produced the first image of a black hole, 53.5 million light-years from Earth.

Centenary Medal
Bruce Davidson, for his sustained and significant contribution to photography. A member of Magnum Photos since 1958, Davidson is lauded for his intimate photo-essays and the documentation of counter-culture communities.

Outstanding Contribution to Photography Award
Zelda Cheatle, acclaimed curator, editor, and gallerist, for raising the profile of 20th and 21st century photographers and young artists throughout her career, and for the establishment of the first photography fund.

Honorary Fellowships
Vanley Burke, VALIE EXPORT, Lola Flash, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Dana Lixenberg, Alec Soth and Mitra Tabrizian for their exceptional and innovative work connected to the art or science of photography.

Lumière Award
Phoebe Boswell, for major achievements in film and video. Her multidisciplinary practice centres upon drawing but spans animation, sound, video, writing, interactivity, and performance to create  immersive installations.

Cinematic Production Award
Ava DuVernay, writer, director, producer, and film distributor, for sustained contribution to filmmaking. Ava is an Academy Award nominee and Emmy, BAFTA, and Peabody Award winner.

Hood Medal
Dexter McLean, a photographer with cerebral palsy, for his advocating of the disabled community through his documentary and portrait work.

Vic Odden Award
Silvia Rosi, for her self-portraiture photography that explores personal history, heritage and origins.The Vic Odden Award recognises a notable achievement in the art of photography by an individual aged 35 or under.

Editorial, Advertising and Fashion Photography Award
Tyler Mitchell, photographer and filmmaker, for his work that spans genres to explore and document a new aesthetic of Blackness.

Education Award
Esther Teichmann, lecturer at the Royal College of Art, for her still and moving image work that investigates the relationship between fiction, myth, and lived experience.

Curatorship
Azu Nwagbogu, for his work as Founder and Director of the African Artists’ Foundation, a non-profit organisation based in Lagos, Nigeria. Azu also serves as Interim Director / Head Curator of the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art in South Africa, and as Founder and Director of Lagos Photo Festival.

J Dudley Johnston Award
Professor Emeritus Helen Ennis, for major achievement in Australian photographic history, publishing and her illustrious curatorial career.

The Selwyn Award
Dr Caroline Erolin, Senior Lecturer working across the School of Science & Engineering and the School of Art & Design at the University of Dundee. The Selwyn Award recognises an imaging science-based researcher under the age of 35.

Scientific Imaging Award
Kym Cox, for her photography and practice dedicated to the phenomena of soap bubbles. Kym was also previously successful in the RPS Science Photographer of the Year exhibition.

Photographic Publishing Award
Gerhard Steidl, for his significant achievements in the publication of contemporary photobooks under his imprint ‘Steidl’ as well as his extensive German literature, and curation of international exhibitions.

Combined Royal Colleges Medal
Douglas Anderson, for his outstanding contribution to photography and its application in the service of medicine and surgery. Douglas is commended for the development of the world’s first ophthalmic device capable of producing a single, high-resolution image of the retina.

Fenton Medals & RPS Members’ Award
The Fenton Medallists, awards bestowed on individuals who have provided significant service to the RPS, are Mary Crowther, Mark Reeves, Stewart Wall, Rex Waygood and Peter Hayes. The RPS Members’ Award goes to Sheila Haycox.

International Photography Exhibition 163 Awards
The RPS also recognises the award winners of the International Photography Exhibition 163, the longest-running photography exhibition that celebrates the most compelling images and stories from photographers across the globe.

The Under 30’s Award goes to KyeongJun Yang for his project ‘Men Don’t Cry’. The IPE Award goes to Tim Franco for his project ‘Unperson’ which portrays defectors from North Korea.

The selected exhibition photographs will be on view at RPS Gallery from April 2022.

RPS Bursary Recipients
Supratim Bhattacharjee, recipient of the Joan Wakelin Bursary, awarded in partnership with The Guardian
Joanna Vestey, recipient of the Environmental Bursary, awarded in partnership with the Photographic Angle
Jimmi Ho, recipient of the Postgraduate Bursary, supported by MPB.

Evan Dawson, RPS CEO said: “At the RPS we believe photography helps us lead more creative and fulfilled lives. Our Awards are unique because they recognise individuals from many different fields, demonstrating the far-reaching potential of this powerful medium. By sharing incredible achievements in photography, we hope to inspire and motivate many more people around the world, for many generations to come.”

The RPS host an ongoing series of events with past and present award recipients:
rps.org/awardstalks.