Esther Gabrielle Kersley
MA Photojournalism and Documentary Photography – London College of Communication, 2021
Esther Gabrielle Kersley is a research-led documentary photographer with a background in conflict studies and politics. She holds an MA in Photojournalism and Documentary Photography with Distinction from the London College of Communication, University of the Arts London. Recently, she was one of ten graduates featured in Photoworks Photography+ #13 The Graduate Issue, longlisted for the Jerwood/Photoworks Award and shortlisted for the BarTur Student Photo Award 2021.
The series 'At Night The Salmon Move' explores our contradictory relationship with the natural world: on the one hand, it is a relationship characterised by control, ownership, exploitation and destruction. On the other, it is one of wonder and veneration, built from our myths and memories. The pandemic that entered our lives in 2020 shook not just the idea that we can contain, control and reshape nature as we please but it has also revealed how bound up we are with all that is living on our planet. Focusing on texture, the work plays on ambiguity and distortion to mirror our complicated relationship with the natural world and the blurred lines between our internal and external worlds.
Awards and residencies:
Photobook week Aarhus 2021, Selected
Photoworks Photography+ #13 The Graduate Issue, 2021, Selected
Metro Imaging x Made in Arts London Mentorship 2021, Awarded
BarTur Student Photo Awards 2021, Shortlisted
Jerwood/Photoworks Award 2021, Longlisted
Urbanautica Institute Awards 2020, Special mention
Instagram: @esthergabrielle__
"I am inspired by the power of photography and its complicated relationship to truth. Photographs contribute to our understanding of the world, and so as a photographer there is a responsibility but also an opportunity in this that I find exciting."
