IPA 2017: Introducing Hannah Watson, director of TJ Boulting, who will host the winner's exhibition

This year marks the 11th edition of British Journal of Photography’s International Photography Award.
It is a commendation that has established itself as one of the key showcases of emerging photographic talent, offering a three-week solo exhibition at the renowned TJ Boulting gallery in the heart of London, as one of its prizes.

This year, there will be just one award for the best photography series.
The winner will also receive a £5000 production grant from leading print lab Metro Imaging, a three week home page residency on the WeTransfer website, offering a fantastic opportunity of worldwide exposure; and, their work will be published across all BJP print and digital platforms.
Hannah Watson, the director of TJ Boulting and Trolley Books, an independent photography and contemporary art book publisher, which marks its 15 year anniversary this year, will once again be one of our judges on IPA’s prestigious judging panel.

Watson has worked with some notable names in the photography world, including Alixandra Fazzina, Robin Maddock, Nina Berman and Stanley Greene, but is also known for endorsing emerging talent, often giving exhibitions to photographers and artists who have not previously been shown in London.
TJ Boulting is not a gallery that associates itself exclusively with photography, however, the medium is given as much value as any other.
For example, this year for the first time, the gallery had a booth at Photo London.
This summer, it also hosted ‘Now You See Me’, an exhibition looking at the role of the body in photography, featuring work from Mat Collishaw, Jo Spence and last year’s IPA Series winner, Juno Calypso.

Watson has previously said: “I think of photography as any other medium. I’m looking forward to seeing work that is not prescribed photography. I think photography can restrict itself, if you start thinking like that. In art schools now, you can do drawing and it will cover film, photography, painting. Medium is more liberating now.”
Each year, she works in close collaboration with the IPA winners to create unique presentations of their work, using the contemporary gallery’s space to its full potential.
Last year, Felicity Hammond and Juno Calypso were given almost complete freedom to manipulate the rooms as they wished. 
Calpyso says that working with the curator “was interesting, we became friends but also developed a really good relationship with my work.
She was never satisfied just to make everyone happy, she would go the extra mile to make sure that it would look good.”
Watson will join Simon Bainbridge (BJP’s editorial director), Brett Rogers (director of The Photographer’s Gallery), Michael Mack (founding director of MACK Books) and award-winning photographer Nadav Kander.
The deadline for applications for the 2019 edition of BJP International Photography Award is 20 December 2018 – 4pm GMT.  Apply now!