Emerging Photographer
Working in and around his local council estates, this self-taught photographer has already shot for GQ magazine
IN ASSOCIATION WITH Canon
Formerly known as the Student Photographer of the Year award, we decided to make this an open competition this year for any aspiring young photographer, not only those who are students. Our new Emerging Photographer Award asked those entering to submit an online portfolio of up to 12 images to showcase their work, plus an artist’s statement. These were anonymised by the CMS system and then each of the shortlisted entries was rated by a panel of six judges to find a winner.
In third place was this outstanding portfolio of sports photography by 26-year-old Will Palmer, from Yorkshire. Despite his age, Will has already won multiple awards for his work.
In second place was 25-year-old Edward Matthews, also from Yorkshire. Edward spent six years as a nightclub photographer before becoming a conflict documentary photographer in Ukraine, supporting grassroots humanitarian aid groups.
And our winner is 25-year-old Tariq Sadu, a self-taught portrait photographer from south London. The judges loved the creativity he showed in his set of portraits, all taken around his local area. ‘I often describe myself as “a yout playing with a camera”,’ he says. ‘This essentially means that I approach my craft with a youthful enthusiasm, continuously exploring and defining my style and niche.’
Tariq describes his proudest achievement so far as being given the opportunity to shoot for GQ, which can be seen on the magazine’s website, and he aims to challenge the norms of portrait photography by shooting w
