Photo of Laura Page by Ngaturue Jackman
Laura Page is the fourth recipient of the Rebecca Vassie Memorial Award.
Page receives £2,000, plus £1,000 credit at Metro Imaging, for her project The Hidden Depths, which aims to shine a fresh light on Britain’s oldest generation, challenging ageism and the assumption that people over 80 no longer live surprising or remarkable lives. The award opened for entries before coronavirus became a global health emergency and the pandemic means that Page must wait for restrictions to lift before she can undertake her project. However, it provides added impetus: Page is keen to show older people in a fresh light after a public health narrative that has focussed on their vulnerability.
Read the BBC’s coverage of the award result.
Portrait by Laura Page taken for a project looking at social and cultural identity in a place of change in collaboration with Sheffield University and Kelham Island Museum. Pictured is Roy who is living in his van on a travellers’ site, soon to be evicted so a new sports complex can be built.
Two further applicants were highly commended: Joseph Fox for his proposal ‘La puerta del desierto’, examining desertification in Spain, and Jamie Sinclair, who applied with a project on male dancers and societal ideas of masculinity. Fox and Sinclair both receive ￡300 seed funding towards their projects. Page, Fox and Sinclair also receive membership of photography network Shutter Hub.
Also shortlisted from more than 70 applications were Laurence Coulton, Daniel James Homewood and Cathy Masser.
A total of twelve longlisted applicants gain access to our Development Network, which disburses small grants towards education, training and practice development.
