The 40th AOP Photography Awards are open to all AOP Accredited Photographer and Assisting Photographer members.
© Todd Antony
Bringing together a wealth of talent, creativity, expertise and industry perspective – we are delighted to introduce you to our pool of Judges for the 38th AOP Photography Awards.
Judges are selected for their exceptional experience, insights and their specific relevance to each category.
Factual / observational photography documenting real-life that informs or promotes ideals. Includes photojournalism and reportage photography.
Simon Roberts (b.1974) is a visual artist based in Brighton, UK, recognised for his large-format, tableaux photographs exploring the socio-political fabric of Britain.
He has exhibited widely and his photographs reside in major public collections, including the George Eastman House, Deutsche Börse Art Collection and Victoria & Albert Museum. In 2010 he was appointed the official British Election Artist by the House of Commons Works of Art Committee to produce a visual record of the General Election on behalf of the UK Parliamentary Art Collection. He has received several awards including an Honorary Fellowship to the Royal Photographic Society, the Vic Odden Award and grants from Arts Council England and the John Kobal Foundation.
Author of several critically acclaimed monographs including Motherland (Chris Boot, 2007), We English (Chris Boot, 2009), Pierdom (Dewi Lewis Publishing, 2013) and Merrie Albion – Landscape Studies of a Small Island (Dewi Lewis Publishing, 2017), his work has also been profiled and published widely including in the New Yorker, Granta, National Geographic, ArtForum, Wallpaper, amongst others.
Alya Al-Khatib is the Head of Creative & Storytelling at Oxfam GB. Together with an in-house team of writers, designers, filmmakers and producers, they develop and deliver the ideas and stories that bring Oxfam work against poverty to life. Alya and the team are really passionate about doing justice by people’s experiences, representing them sensitively, and working with a wide range of photographers and filmmakers from across the world who share that passion. Alya has previously worked as a creative in charity and non-profit with organisations like The Scout Association, Marie Curie, Sense and the NSPCC.
Josh is the Deputy Picture Editor at the FT Weekend Magazine, where he also regularly writes about photography. He is a frequent participant at festivals and workshops, and has been a visiting lecturer at several universities including, London College of Communication, University of Syracuse, NY, USA and the School of Media and Journalism, Aarhus, Denmark.
Before joining the FT, Josh spent seven years as the Assignments Editor at Panos Pictures, and in 2013, he co-founded the book-publishing wing of Tartaruga, an independent record label and print studio.
Photography where the overall situation or location is the primary focus of the image. Includes urban, outdoors, environmental and natural landscape photography.
Joanne Coates is a working class visual artist using the medium of photography. She lives and works across the North East of England. Her work explores rurality, hidden histories, and inequalities relating to low income through photography, installations, and audio. She uses photography to question stories around power, identity, wealth, and poverty. She was first educated in working-class communities, and then at London College of Communication (BA Hons Photography). Participation and working with communities are an important aspect of her work. Coates is a farm labourer practicing active nature friendly methods. She is deeply attached to places, the memories they hold and the people who inhabit them. Her work is often made from a lived experience perspective touching on class, disability and gender.
Chief Evolution Officer and founder at LEAP design & impact agency. Planet-centered creative pathfinder igniting the creative change our planet needs*, dreamer, activist (actionist), natures board, co-founder of Goodfest CIC, chief igniter of Uncomfortable Conversations, B Corp Ambassador, Boardroom2030.
Fractional creative director/advisor/moral compass/NED.
I like to surf, cycle, paddle, love where I live, work in Cornwall and its spirit.
Open for new change making adventures that benefit the planet.
For over a decade I have led AdGreen: upskilling the advertising production sector in measuring, managing and reducing carbon emissions. The seeds for AdGreen were planted when I began production managing TV commercials and music videos for some of the finest production companies in the UK in 2010 – even getting Grammy nominated in the process! Bringing my own water bottle, hiring water coolers and setting up on-set recycling soon became supporting other production teams with advice, sharing template text for call sheets and helping suppliers adapt to offer more sustainable services.
Interest in AdGreen grew and I became increasingly involved in both creating events for production folks to gather and learn how to produce shoots with a reduced environmental impact, and in speaking at industry events such as Cannes Lions, the annual APA Masterclass, AICP Week in New York and Vancouver International Film Festival’s Sustainable Production Forum.
After a round of fundraising in peak-pandemic 2020, AdGreen in its current format was born and it’s been my full time home ever since. I’m proud we’re able to provide training to grow the carbon literate workforce in the UK, and beyond. This ever-expanding community is adept at producing amazing creative work, but on a reduced carbon budget. And since launching our carbon calculator in September 2021, we also provide the means to measure, enabling production teams to identify activities with the biggest carbon impact, and advertisers to obtain the information they need for procurement decisions, and corporate reporting. After all, you can’t manage what you don’t measure – and yes, I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve said that!
Balancing client expectations with what’s possible in the fast paced world of content production has always been challenging, and this is even truer when it comes to doing so as sustainably as possible. We’ll continue to gather feedback about our training, tool and resources to deliver the most user friendly yet robust offerings as we can.
Since starting the journey with myself and my crew sharing pictures of ourselves on set with our reusable water bottles, AdGreen has come a long way. In 2023 we published our first annual review: a testament to those who are leading the charge in measurement and reduction, and to the work we have put in to support them.
Visit us at weareadgreen.org to find out more about our training and download the annual review. Register for the carbon calculator here app.weareadgreen.org/
Photography that illustrates or promotes clothing or beauty products.
Based in london and new york
Carla’s unique, yet recognisable style of photography draws on female strength and power; which is conceptualised with a focus on form and femininity in order to create a dynamic approach to fashion photography. Her extensive portfolio consists of work with advertising and publications to create impactful high-end imagery, combined with contemporary strategy and authentic story-telling.
Magazines;
Vogue, vanity fair , harpers bazaar, elle, l’officiel, gq, wonderland, rollercoaster, paper, hunger
Clients include:
Lancôme, burberry, sportmax, linda farrow, temperley, facegym, rene caovilla, naked wolfe, charlotte simone, malone souliers, mtv, netflix, north face, puma, hunza g,
Talent:
Katherine ryan, celeste, maya jama, leomie anderson, charithra chandran, dina asher smith, raye.
Awards:
International photography awards – jury top 5
New york photography awards – gold winner
Muse photography awards – gold winner
Prix de la photographie paris – silver winner
Anna Foster is Founder and Creative Director of pioneering upcycling brand E.L.V. DENIM. Prior to founding the brand, Anna had been a fashion editor for twenty years at publications such as Exit and i-D Magazine. She then went on to be Fashion Director at Lula, and Fashion Director-at-Large at Australian style title RUSSH before deciding to focus solely on the brand in 2022.
Anna’s practices have been widely recognised by the industry, with the brand having been shortlisted for the 2021 and 2022 BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund, and a recipient of the BFC Fashion Trust Fund for 2021 and 2022. In March 2022, she won an INNOVATE UK: Women in Innovation Award, which spotlights a diverse group of trailblazing women who are changing the world through the power of their ideas. Anna’s proposal for creating a viable textile sorting infrastructure and textile regeneration was recognised as one that could transform the UK’s textile waste problem into an ‘upcycled textile economy’.
Anna has collaborated with Gabriela Hearst and Hyundai, and has recently pioneered an ‘industry first’ with THE OUTNET. By repurposing years of excess inventory from various brands held by the retail giant, she created a new collection across categories that launched in January 2024. This initiative demonstrated to the wider industry that upcycling can be scaled, surplus stock can be monitised, and new collections can be crafted without the need for new materials.
Instantly recognisable worldwide for her effortless and authentic style, Rodin a model turned stylist turned beauty entrepreneur began her career in the 1960s. Styling for the likes of Victoria’s Secret, Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue her career is legendary.
Her return to modelling after a 40 year hiatus and the founding of her own beauty company Rodin in 2008 earned her an even greater dedicated following on social media and attention from fashion media. With her signature look of “silver hair, oversize glasses, and bright lipstick” (as described in Vogue) complimented by her always distinct personal style, Rodin is a super-stylish role model for women of all ages and an inspiring serial entrepreneur.
At the age of 77, her latest venture is Linda Hopp, a small denim line made in New York from organic and eco-conscious materials.
“Age ain’t nothing but numbers” Linda Rodin
For Patrice the art of still life is animating the inanimate, to create an emotional connection between the work and the viewer.
Her first commission was for The Sunday Times magazine, a series of food portraits, where she found her unique creative voice & has continued to produce original, beautiful imagery ever since.
Having studied English literature, film & photography at university, followed by three years full time assisting, Patrice decided to apply her craft to the art of still life photography, becoming known for a recognisable vision with food often as the main subject matter. The work is conceptual, observational, elegant & playful with everything in it’s right place, a creator not just a recorder as described by industry luminaries.
Along the way, she has wrapped cars in pasta bows for Ford, dressed crab claws in stockings for a Las Vegas superstar hotel , shot model made Cornettos in a Moscow basement, balanced blinis on Louboutin heels & draped noodles over rock stars for personal project ‘LoveMusicLoveFood’, in aid of Teenage Cancer Trust. A combination of three great passions, music, food & photography with all proceeds from book & print sales going to the charity.
Highly regarded in the industry after a long career shooting at the top end of the advertising, design & editorial worlds, Patrice has been on many jury panels including the AOP, Creative Circle & Gerety awards, & last year was D&AD jury president for the photography category. On the other side of the judging table, she’s won an array of awards globally including two D&AD black pencils for the most acclaimed food campaign in advertising history & numerous consecutive inclusions in Lurzer’s 200 Best Ad Photographers Worldwide.
www.patricedevilliers.com/
Luis Peral is a London based freelance art director and prop stylist, working in the food &drink, lifestyle and interiors industries for more than 25 years.
Having worked originally in Food and lifestyle publishing concentrating mainly on illustrated books before becoming freelance working for major brands and supermarkets on commercials, campaigns, packaging and editorial stills. Over these years I have had the opportunity of working with the most sought after photographers of the UK
Avril Beaven is the Series Producer for BBC2’s Great British Menu and author to recently published, Great British Menu’s Home Banquets. Having worked on Great British Menu for almost 10 years, she firmly has her finger on the pulse when it comes to fine dining, finding new and upcoming chefs that are making waves in the industry.
She has worked in television for the past 20 years, working across factual entertainment and food programming. Her skills lie with developing talent and getting the best out of people.
Food is where her passion is and enjoys eating out, cooking and finding new chef talent, alongside her hobby of cricket umpiring and volunteering for a perinatal mental health charity, PANDAS.
She lives in Solihull with her husband and son.
Fictional / staged photography reflecting lifestyle scenarios, that illustrate or promote brands, corporations, products, and ideas.
Isy Anderson works together with Leigh as Photography by Anderson.
The pair collaborate with some of the UK’s most creative agencies and regularly shoot for big brands and well-known organisations.
They specialise in portraiture and lifestyle photography and have a passion for filming human interest stories.We are Isy + Leigh.Together we are Photography by Anderson.
Cara Swindell is an Art-buying Production Lead at New Commercial Arts, based in London, working in the industry for nearly 20 years. Working on brands such as Sainsbury’s, The Coca Cola Company, Habitat, Lloyds, Nando’s, Battersea Dogs & Cats Home, The National Lottery, Diageo, PlayStation and John Lewis.
Stephen McGilvray is Executive Creative Director at FutureBrand London, where he leads the studio’s creative output for global consumer and enterprise brands. As a member of the London Leadership Team, he also plays a key role in shaping the agency’s direction and culture.
With over two decades of experience, Stephen operates at the intersection of strategy and creativity, partnering with ambitious leaders to build category-defining brands that resonate inside and out. He has shaped some of the world’s most influential brands while nurturing high-performing, creatively driven teams.
A long-time advocate for the power of photography in brand storytelling, Stephen has collaborated with and commissioned photographers across a wide range of iconic brands, including Nestlé, Google, Virgin and PwC.
Photography where the subject, human or animal, is the primary focus of the image.
Born in Stavanger, Norway in 1972 to an English mother and a Norwegian father. Pål Hansen spent his first three years in the west of Norway, then moved to Asker, a small place outside Oslo where he grew up apart from 1 year in Cuba at age 3, 1 year in the USA at age 10 and 1 year in England age 15.
During National Service Pål worked his way from Corporal to Sargeant and ultimately Second Lieutenant acting as Captain in the Norwegian NATO Telemark Battalion.
During his last year he found great interest in photography and started taking pictures of Army life as well as Landscapes. He put together a collection of work and applied to universities in England and Wales, accepting a place at Nottingham Trent on the basis that he could smell photography chemicals as soon as he walked in the door, and therefore knew that it had to be the right place.
Pål now lives in Hackney, London with his wife and two sons
Joanna Moran is currently the Photography Director of Empire magazine. With over 20 years’ experience in publishing and advertising, Joanna has worked at a number of well-respected magazines — Empire, ShortList, Men’s Health and Maxim — as well as worldwide advertising agency, JWT.
As Empire’s Photography Director, Joanna commissions and produces celebrity Empire Focus and Spotlight portrait shoots worldwide, reportage stories such as the magazine’s visit to the Laika headquarters in Portland, and events such as Empire VIP, Empire Live and the (currently on hiatus) Empire Awards.
I love to write. A word, a line, a script, a joke, an essay, a strategy, a statement of intent. Whatever it takes. Words bind us together; they help us sell things, ideas, ideologies to anyone, anywhere. But words are not the whole story. Find the insight. Define the channels. Create a narrative. That’s basically what I do. Medium is less important to me than message.
There’s a lot of film on this site and sure, I love bold, beautiful, funny storytelling. Film is an involving medium; it can make you feel something. But a great thought can be communicated via any channel and with any budget. I honestly believe this. It’s what the word ‘creative’ means to me.
In a previous life, I was a civil servant, a librarian, a copyeditor, a charity worker, a shelf-stacker and a school janitor.
In my current life, I’ve been a creative lead at Mother, Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam, Fallon London and Karmarama, and I have a bunch of awards to show for it, including a D&AD Black Pencil for writing. In 2015, I co-founded Faster Horses, a creative collective working directly with clients on a project basis. And now I’m a Creative Director at Wieden+Kennedy London, where I’ve created campaigns for Kraft Heinz, Lurpak, Coca-Cola, Honda, Sainsbury’s, and others.
In my next life, I shall be replaced by a piece of code. Actually, it’s happening already and it’s called ChatGBT. But that’s OK. If you use AI, then you probably deserve it. Whatever happens, real, ‘human’ writing (like life and velociraptors) will always find a way.
Photography where interior spaces, built exteriors and locations are the primary focus of the image.
Taran is a lifestyle photographer based in London, specialising in interiors, architecture and portrait photography. Available for commissions worldwide.
British born photographer Taran Wilkhu’s career traversed travel, fashion, film and television before he discovered a passion for lifestyle photography. Of Indian heritage, Taran lived in Japan and studied language and sociology before returning to the UK to take up architectural photography at London College of Communications.
Shooting architecture, interiors and lifestyles for editorial, commercial and advertising clients globally, Taran’s work focuses on exploring the interaction between people and space in the built environment.
Taran has launched three books:
’Segal Close and Walters Way‘, 2018 (Park Books)
‘An opinionated guide to London Architecture’, 2019 (Hoxton Mini Press)
’The Sustainable City’, 2022 (Hoxton Mini Press)
For over 17 years, Suzanne was the influential editor of leading interiors magazine and
website Livingetc and Livingetc.com; a renowned interiors style pundit and trend leader,
and an industry advisor to numerous home retailers and publishing brands.
Today, she works as a brand consultant and content director for a range of clients from
Neptune, where she edits Stories magazine, to Boat International’s Interiors annual,
advising on strategy and content production. With an extensive contacts book and an eye
for engaging editorial, Suzanne is an experienced editor focused on delivering insightful,
beautiful and brand-relevant, cross-platform content for specified markets and audiences.
For more information on Suzanne Imre Consultancy, please go to https://
www.suzanneimre.com
Interior Stylist, Creative Director, clients include: Liberty, World of Interiors, Farrow and Ball, Elle Decoration,Vogue, House Beautiful USA, The Times and many interior brands worldwide.
Photography where sport or fitness activity is the primary focus of the image, includes sports fans and venues.
I am proud to be acknowledged as Britain’s first female sports photographer, I was delighted to be awarded the accolade of the Sports Picture of the Year.
My photographs have appeared in films, books, magazines and newspapers and I have been interviewed on various TV programmes including Richard & Judy, The Alan Titchmarsh Show and Breakfast TV amongst others.
I have been able to capture images of sporting legends such as Muhammad Ali, Bobby Moore, Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe and also stars of the screen and members of the royal family.
Sara Rose is Director of Brand & Creative at Manchester United where she oversees brand strategy and identity, as well as the design, art direction and film output of the club’s creative department.
A veteran of advertising agencies in both the US and the UK, she has worked on iconic brands such as Dove, Target, McDonalds, HP, Coca-Cola, Google and Boots. Her industry awards include Cannes Lions, D&AD, One Show and Clios among others.
She specialises in storytelling across mediums, whether that is photography, graphic design, film, music, physical spaces, live events or digital experiences.
Megan Williams is a London-based arts and culture writer specialising in photography. She is currently News Editor at Creative Review magazine, where she writes about topics such as design, advertising, and photography, and regularly covers the intersection between sports and creativity. Her writing has also been published by The Guardian, CNN, Dazed, as well as art and football magazine OOF.
Photography where still life or objects are the primary focus of the image. This can be any type of object in any place.
A long-term photographic project on a singular subject that portrays a narrative, illustrated in a series of 10-20 images, or short form film. Because of the long-form nature of the work, images for the Project category have no date limitation but must be a proven ongoing project. (Please note because of space limitations up to 8 images may be chosen to be included in the Awards Book and exhibition).
Born in Germany in 1972, Thomas Dworzak has documented many of the most important news stories since the 1990s. At the age of 16, he started traveling to photograph conflicts in Northern Ireland, Israel/Palestine, and the disintegrating Yugoslavia. After he left his native Germany, he combined his attempt to become a photographer with an effort to study languages: Spanish in Ávila, Czech in Prague, and Russian in Moscow. During the 1990s, Dworzak lived in Georgia, exploring the people, culture, and conflicts in the Caucasus, which resulted in the book Kavkaz in 2010.
A months-long assignment for the New Yorker in Afghanistan, where Dworzak discovered studio portraits of the Taliban, became his first book, Taliban (2003). Images taken during his many assignments in Iraq, most of which were shot for Time magazine, were used to create his next book, M*A*S*H IRAQ (2007). Since then, Dworzak has gone on to photograph the revolutions in the former Soviet republics of Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, and Ukraine, and to cover stories in dozens of countries. In a recent project, Feldpost (2013–18), he photographed the “memory” of the First World War in more than 80 countries, producing 1568 “postcards” (one for every day of the war). It was completed on November 11, 2018, exactly 100 years after the end of the conflict.
Dworzak is also a keen curator, with a particular interest in digital culture. His work mining Instagram memes under various hashtags, ranging from animals dressed as the Pope to the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing, has resulted in twenty sketchbooks compiled of his findings.
When covering the 2015 refugee crisis, Dworzak conceived Europe – a photographic guide for refugees, which was produced and distributed free of charge to migrants. His current long-term project, War Games, was interrupted at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, whereupon he explored and photographed almost exclusively the new virtual “Zoom” world. In 2021, his 2003–18 documentation of Georgian troops in the “war on terror” was published as a feature-film screenplay/photobook, Khidi – The Bridge. Dworzak became a Magnum Photos nominee in 2000 and a full member in 2004.
He was president of Magnum from 2017 to 2020
I am the Pictures Lead at Channel 4 and have worked here for almost 6 years now. I have worked across creative campaigns at a variety of media outlets covering editorial, commercial and digital. I enjoy working with a wide range of photographers and contributors and I am always keen to meet and collaborate with new people.
With over 16 years commissioning experience behind me, I pride myself in delivering creative campaigns quickly, efficiently and with a fun team around me. Whilst at Channel 4, we’ve worked tirelessly to widen our pool of photographers across the UK and beyond and increase the visibility of the fantastic creatives based outside of the capital. Being part of the judging panel for this year’s AOP awards has been a real honour and a privilege to see the scope of great work being made across the UK and beyond.
Educated at the University of Sydney (Fine Arts) in Australia, Brett Rogers OBE arrived in London in 1980 to undertake an MA at the Courtauld Institute, University of London,. Prior to this, she worked as an Exhibitions Coordinator for the Australian Gallery Director’s Council from 1976-1980 curating and managing a broad range of photography and art exhibitions which toured throughout public museums across Australia.
From 2006-2022, Brett was the Director of The Photographers’ Gallery, London the first publicly funded Gallery dedicated solely to photography in the UK. Founded in Great Newport St in 1971, the gallery established early on a reputation for its independent approach to curating and its promotion of photography in all its myriad forms.
Brett oversaw the transformation of the gallery from its original premises near Leicester Square to a handsome new 5 storey building designed by O’Donnell & Tuomey, located in the recently launched Soho Photography Quarter just near Oxford Circus The new gallery reopened to wide critical acclaim from the public in May 2012.. Under Rogers’ leadership, the Gallery secured international recognition as a leader both within the field of photography and the wider image economy. The Gallery was one of the first within the field to acknowledge the shift in how photography is understood, networked and distributed in the 21st century by appointing in 2011 a Curator of Digital Programmes (Katrina Sluis, now Head of Photography at Australian National University).
Before joining the Gallery in 2006, Brett was Deputy Director of Visual Arts at the British Council, where she was responsible for establishing the British Council’s Photography Collection and curating an ambitious programme of international touring exhibitions on British photography. Her role at the British Council also encompassed promoting contemporary visual arts, fashion and design. She worked closely with Anish Kapoor, Cornelia Parker, Chris Ofili, Damien Hirst amongst others on key projects the Council organised abroad.
In 2013 her key role in contributing towards photography was recognized by University of the Arts London by appointing her a Visiting Fellow and in 2018 she was the recipient of the Royal Photographic Society’s Outstanding Contribution to Photography Award.
Brett Rogers was awarded an OBE for services to the Arts in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in May 2014.
Roberta Genovese (b.1994) is an art professional based in London with experience in cultural strategy, partnership, development, and art prizes.
During her time at Photo London, Roberta had the chance to launch and manage the Photo LondonGraduates’ Salon (2020), and the Photo London x Hahnemühle Student Award (2022-2023). She also assisted with Prix Pictet Prize (Fire edition) and was an editorial assistant for Collage: Women of Prix Pictet from 2008, published by Gestalten 2022.
More recently, Roberta has worked on the commission and production of multiple photography shows in her roles at Cromwell Place and Saatchi Gallery, including the first solo show of Chilean artist Carola Ureta Marín, Re-Creating Memory: An entropic reading of the city noise (2023), and Hip Hop: Living a Dream produced by Galerie Bene Taschen at Saatchi Gallery (2025).
Colin Barr is a BAFTA and Emmy-winning Executive Producer/Director who works across Factual and Drama. Previously, he was Creative Director at Minnow Films and an Executive Producer at the BBC.
In Factual, his credits include the BAFTA-winning series’, “Our War” and “Life and Death Row”, as well as the critically-acclaimed, “The Detectives”, “American Justice”, “How to Die: Simon’s Choice” and “Abused: The Untold Story”. Prior to that, he won an Emmy as a Director for “Space Dive”, the feature documentary Red Bull Stratos, Felix Baumgartner’s record-beating freefall from the edge of space.
More recently, he was responsible for Channel Four’s hit format, “SAS: Who Dares Wins”, which sold globally and is now in its fourth series.
In Drama, he Executive Produced BBC One’s BAFTA-winning film, “Damilola: Our Loved Boy” and the BAFTA-nominated series, “Our World War”. He also oversaw the BBC Three dramas, “My Murder” and “Glasgow Girls” and Channel Four’s, “The Watchman” and “Shamed”.
The AOP Photography Awards are known as the ‘Oscars’ of the photography world. They celebrate excellence in the creative photography and image-making industry.
This is your chance to be seen by leading commissioners and names within the photographic industry.
Check out our 39th AOP Awards FINALISTS and WINNERS
