The award winners are announced today for the 162nd edition of the Roya Photographic Society’s International Photography Exhibition, the world’s longest running photography exhibition. The exhibition at RPS House, Bristol, opens on 15 February 2020.

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American photographer Cody Cobb was awarded one of two prestigious awards for his stark landscapes made during periods of extended solitude. Cobb immerses himself in the American West for weeks at a time, stripped of basic human comforts and isolated within unfamiliar terrain. His series Strange Land captures the emotion of the land as much as the topography.

He said: “The support of The RPS has encouraged me to continue pushing myself and my workin ways that weren’t possible before. I'm incredibly grateful for this opportunity to share my interpretation of what it means to be human on this strange and fantastic planet.”

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Under 30s award winner Chirag Jindal (b.1993) works at the intersection of documentary journalism, new media art and cartography. Based in New Zealand, Jindal’s series Into the Underworld - Ngā Mahi Rarowhenua reveals a network of lava caves hidden beneath Auckland. Reduced to urban myth, their existence is not common knowledge and ongoing discoveries gooften unreported by the urban developers that destroy them. Jindal’s images are created using LiDAR, an emerging form of lens-based imaging applied in archaeological surveying and criminal forensics.

Selected from over 1370 entries from 62 countries, the exhibition features the work of 43 international photographers. Spirituality, identity, inclusion and the environment are some of the powerful narratives explored this year.

The exhibition at the Royal Photographic Society opens on 15 February 2020, before touring across the UK and coincides with the first anniversary of the organisations move to Bristol.

Open to photographers of all ages and abilities, the next call-for-entries to the International Photography Exhibition (163) will open later in the year. To be notified when entry is open please send a reminder request to the Exhibitions Department.

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About The RPS

The Royal Photographic Society (RPS) is an international charitable organisation that exists to encourage public appreciation of photography through promotion of the highest standards of achievement. The RPS has a worldwide membership of more than 11,000 and membership is open to all. 2019 marked the start of a new phase in the society’s evolution with the opening of a new photographic centre in Bristol to widen public engagement.

website RPS

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