Judges 2021

Alastair McKimm is Editor-in-Chief of i-D. Prior to his appointment at i-D, he contributed regularly to T, The New York Times Magazine, British Vogue, Vogue Italia and Self Service. McKimm’s bold and modern aesthetic allows him to reconstruct fashion in any context. Born and raised in Northern Ireland, McKimm began his styling career in London after studying fashion design at Nottingham Art School.McKimm’s talent for creating clean, precise looks has garnered the attention of designers such as Saint Laurent, Anthony Vaccarello, Calvin Klein, Jil Sander, The Row, Alexander Wang, and Versus Versace, who request him for their campaigns, consultations and fashion shows. Additionally, his editorial collaborations are with noted photographers such as Craig McDean, David Sims, Mario Sorrenti, Willy Vanderperre, Inez & Vinoodh, Mikael Jansson, Dan Jackson, Amy Troost and Paolo Roversi.

Ronan Mckenzie is a multi-disciplinary artist from Walthamstow, North East London. Ronan has exhibited her work at spaces including Aperture Foundation, Red Hook Labs, Somerset House and The National Theatre, and is now the Director of HOME by Ronan Mckenzie, a multifunctional creative space. Her work has been presented on the covers of The British Journal of Photography, Garage Magazine, Teen Vogue and Creative Review, and within titles including Luncheon, Vogue, POP, i-D and Wall Street Journal. Notable within Ronan’s practice is a sensitivity to honest, relatable emotion and the celebration of individuality. Alongside working commercially with brands including Nike, Glossier, Sephora, Universal Standard and Olay, Ronan lectures at universities and institutions. Her work is often tied together with her passion for creating more imagery of connections, relationships and black joy, presenting the world as she would like to see it. 

Karen McQuaid is a senior curator at The Photographers’ gallery in lLondon. She has curated exhibitions including Jim Goldberg, Open See (2009); Fiona Tan, Vox Populi, London (2012); Andy Warhol, Photographs: 1976 – 1987 (2014); Lorenzo Vitturi, Dalston Anatomy(2014) and Rosângela Rennó, Río-Montevideo (2016). She has co-curated Geraldo De Barros, What Remains (2013) with Isobel Whitelegg and Made You Look, Dandyism and Black Masculinity (2016) with Ekow Eshun. She has recently edited The New Colonists by Monica Alcazar-Duarte. Karen has curated external exhibitions at The Moscow House of Photography and The National Gallery of Kosovo. She regularly participates in international workshops, writes for photography publications and edits artists books. Karen also guest lectures across the UK.

Gem Fletcher is a hybrid creative focusing on visual culture at the intersection of life and art. Through explorations in film, photography, sound and language, she creates stories that provoke emotion and challenge perspectives. In addition to her personal research practice, she works across a range of contexts including editorial, commercial and fine art. In 2019, Gem launched The Messy Truth podcast, a series of candid conversations that unpack the future of visual culture and what it means to be a photographer today.
Gem is a freelance writer specialising in photography, art and the creative process and how they manifest in contemporary culture. She is a  Photo Director of Riposte Magazine, contributing editor of Creative Review and The September Issues and writes for publications and platforms including: It’s Nice That, BJP, The Guardian, Riposte, Sleek, AnOther, Elephant and Ladybeard. She has also written essays for a variety of photo books including Flower Men by Ken Hermann and Silence by Flora Hanitijo.

Megan Tilley is a Senior Agent at East, a photography & set design agency with offices in London and New York. Prior to this, Megan worked at Antenne Books – a distributor specialising in artists books and independent publishing.

Lola Paprocka is a photographer with a practice centring on documentary imagery. Her focus is on creating work with sentimental narratives that are authentic and honest in their representation of the subject whilst retaining her personal clean and unfussy aesthetic.Lola has curated the Independent Photography Festival in London, in addition to a number of solo exhibitions and book launches. She founded and curated Palm* Studios, photo book publisher that showcases photographers and artists through creative projects, online features, exhibitions, events and book launches. It was founded in 2015. Alongside her personal practice, she also shoot as part of a photography duo with Pani Paul under the moniker Lola & Pani. This work as well as parts of her personal practice overlap into the fashion industry where they have contributed stories to magazines including The New York Times, British Vogue and i-D Magazine.