#20 The Graduate Issue 2023
This year The Graduate Issue attracted more submissions than ever before, from artists from all over the world. The ten projects selected and shown here use photography in intelligent and at times ground-breaking ways, dealing with urgent issues such as the environment, identity, and violence, as well as the medium of photography itself and how it’s implicated in these problems. We celebrate: Yshao Lin, Massimiliano Corteselli, Antollini Otic, Alejandra Orjuela, Lyssa Harakis-Parish, Sumi Anjuman, Aaryan Sinha, Maki Hayashida, Anja Segermann, and Vavara Uhlik.
Photoworks thanks all who put forward their work, and the selection panel who had the difficult task of whittling these projects down: writer and curator Sunil Shah, Seen Fifteen gallerist and Peckham 24 co-founder Vivienne Gamble, Photoworks writer in residence Tanlume Enyatseng, Photoworks curator Julia Bunneman, and Photoworks Editor Diane Smyth. Thanks also to Photoworks Digital Marketing Officer Natalia Gonzalez Acosta, who provided expert help on the day.
This year the selection panel recognises two additional Highly Recommended artists: Andrew Awanda for his project LOVE IS THE MESSAGE, an energetic look at the queer scene in Baltimore, and Tim Rod for his series Don’t Forget the Knifish, which explores the relationship he has established with his father, who he first met at the age of 26. We wish them, and all other 2023 graduates, the very best of luck for the future.
This Isn’t Divide and Conquer by Aaryan Sinha investigates how historical events have helped shape the Indian landscape and the identity; it also questions the relationship between photography, colonialism, and the artist’s own position. Originally from New Delhi, Sinha drew on his own family history when making this work, shooting in the five Indian states that share a border with Pakistan. Sinha’s grandfather was once a member of the Indian Armed Forces, which included Pakistani officials. After the 1947 partition, following Britain’s hasty departure from India, these officers were pitted against each other. Sinha’s grandfather grew up with a different map of India, and after the new border was drawn up by the British, whole cities, villages, and families were separated from each other. Through this work, Sinha seeks to better understand the direct and indirect impact of this separation has had, on the border region and beyond.
Aaryan Sinha was born in New Delhi in 2001, and is currently based in the Netherlands. He recently graduated with a BA in Photography from the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague, and has previously shown his work in institutions such as FOAM, Amsterdam, and the Noorderlicht Photo Festival. Sinha works with photography and archive material, and is interested in both Indian identity and the impact of Western culture on it.
Find out more about Aaryan Sinha here.
