Nikon and BJP give away £5k
© Ben Roberts
Ben Roberts is the winner of the latest Project Assistance Awards, the annual contest BJP runs in partnership with Nikon.
He receives a £5000 bursary to complete his documentary on The Brick Business, a lyrical take on the Spanish construction boom and its subsequent collapse.
Roberts entered photographs taken on his initial two visits to Spain, concentrating on landscapes and architectural details that show, for example, how housing developments are replacing old olive groves in Granada, or the vast apartment complexes that now lie empty along Calle Ojos Del Salado, shown here.
Now he will return to focus on 'some of the associated human narratives', which serve as a parable for the wider global finance crisis, such as ex-patriot Britains left stranded by corrupt developers, security guards patrolling unused housing estates, and workers left unemployed by the collapse of the construction industry.
'When I began shooting The Brick Business in September 2007, the signs of decline were already visible, but there was still some optimism,' says Roberts. 'I was originally drawn to the environmental impact of the construction boom on Spain's fragile coastal ecosystems - but through subsequent visits and the arrival of the global credit crunch, I have realised that the narrative threads that emanate from the construction boom and subsequent crash are more diverse.'
Roberts' proposal was supported by statistics that demonstrate the vast scale of Spain's housing development, during which more than half a million new homes were built each year while retail prices more than doubled. Now, as many as four million homes lie empty, including nearly a third of all those built between 2001 and 2007. 'Over the last 10 years, Spain has experienced the biggest construction boom in Europe, something which was also fuelled by northern Europeans seeking a holiday or retirement home in the sun,' comments Stefanie Braun, a curator and exhibition organiser at The Photographers' Gallery, who served as this year's Awards judge. 'Given the current economic crisis, this is a very relevant topic to be explored further. His photographs highlight the fractious relationship we have with our surroundings. Ben is planning on developing the project further to include portraits of people affected by or involved in the construction industry - ranging from estate agents to migrant workers - which I think will make it a very strong body of work.'
The 29-year-old London-based photographer, who is first assistant to Zed Nelson, and who has completed numerous commercial and editorial assignments himself, was shortlisted alongside seven others earlier this year (BJP, 14 January). Each was then interviewed and given £300 to put together a detailed, fully-costed project proposal for how they would use the £5000 cash award. The eight photographers were selected from the 51 published on the back pages of BJP last year.
You could be the next winner. Nikon and BJP continue to accept entries for this year's Project Assistance Awards, details of which can be found at bjp-online.com/paa.
BJP advises entrants that they have more chance of being published in the spring and summer months, when the submissions are fewer than later in the year.
