CJPOTY judging panel announced

Benedict is a UK-based photographer, journalist and author. He balances his personal practice with writing about photography and running photography workshops and enrichment programmes. He is an award-winning journalist and writes a monthly column called The Art of Seeing. His first book, You Will Be Able to Take Great Photos By the End of this Book will be published by Ilex Press (Octopus Publishing) in March 2023.

Benedict is often seen on the judging panel of prestigious photo competitions and in 2020 he founded Potato Photographer of the Year. Benedict travels internationally as a public speaker talking about the art and craft of photography and sits on The Royal Photographic Society’s Licentiate distinctions panel.

Sophie has more than 20 years of experience in performance and digital marketing for a wide range of brands, including Apple, Sony, Kodak, IBM, American Express, British Airways and DAZN.

Sophie is a dedicated amateur photographer, having studied at the International Center of Photography in New York, and is a Trustee of the Royal Photographic Society.

Donna is an award-winning professional food photographer based in Jersey, Channel Islands. From her home studio she works closely with brands and PR agencies developing recipes and creating strong photographic imagery for food campaigns, social media, websites and print publications.

Donna has worked on multiple cookery books and her work is regularly featured in photographic and cookery magazines around the world. She has recently released her own cookery book ‘A Healthier Family for Life‘ published by Little, Brown in London.

Donna loves sharing her food photography knowledge and skills through regular talks, workshops and camera clubs around the UK.

Ross is one of the UK’s best known professional landscape and nature photographers and authors. His intimate, atmospheric imagery is published widely, and he will be familiar to readers of many photographic publications, including Amateur Photographer, NPhoto Magazine and Outdoor Photography. Ross is a multiple award winner in Wildlife Photographer of the Year, International Garden Photographer of the Year, and Landscape Photographer of the Year competitions. He is a Nikon Alumni, a LEE Filters Master, Benro Ambassador and also a Global Icon for F-Stop Gear.

Ross is the author of several photography books, including The Art of Landscape Photography, The Landscape Photography Workshop, and Digital Macro & Close-up Photography. He also co-runs Dawn 2 Dusk Photography, specialising in photographic workshops throughout the UK. Find out more about Ross at www.rosshoddinott.co.uk.

Tracy Marshall- Grant is an Arts Director, Curator & Producer specializing in the production of photography exhibitions, festivals, education, and archive projects. She was previously Deputy Director of the Centre for British Photography and Director of Development for the Royal Photographic Society. She directed the inaugural Bristol Photo Festival and LOOK Photo Biennial 2019 in Liverpool. Tracy has also been Director of Development at Open Eye Gallery Liverpool and Executive Director at Belfast Exposed Gallery. She is also co-founder and co-director of the new Hay Photo Festival.

Tracy is co-curator and co-editor of the international touring exhibition and associated monograph Chris Killip: retrospective with The Photographers Gallery, London and Thames and Hudson publishers. She is curator of the upcoming Tom Stoddart retrospective and is working on mid-career retrospectives with Jillian Edelstein and Mark Power. She is also Director of Liverpool Photographer Ken Grant’s Studio.

Tracy is associate and guest lecturer on professional practice for the BA and MA photography courses at several colleges and universities in the UK. She is a writer for Amateur Photographer Magazine and an advisor for the Ian Parr Grant. She is a selector for several Awards, including the British Journal of Photography Portrait of Britain and the Photo London Student Photography Award.

Denise is the owner of Lensi photography covering multiple genres (such as sports, fashion, events and portraits ) delivering workshops and mentoring. She has photographed some of the most well known people and events in the world including Barak Obama, Usain Bolt and events such as the BAFTAs and Brit Awards. She was also one of the Commonwealth Games Photographers for Birmingham 2022.
Her recognition spans these varied genres. Her other accomplishments include:

• 1 of 7 female documentary photographers to be highlighted by the BBC during lockdown.
• Being named in the top ten Black Wedding Photographers to get to know in Hitched Magazine
• Exhibiting at The Midlands Arts Centre, The Harris Museum, The Photography Show.
• Published in major publications such as OK Magazine, The Independent and Metro.

In 2022 she had 8 features in photography magazines and delivered Masterclasses at the Photography Show.

Carolyn is an artist and portrait photographer based in the UK, whose practice is rooted in telling stories and amplifying the voices of those who are not always heard. Her passion is to be able to connect and communicate with people of all ages and backgrounds, to create work that is strong, powerful and based on their lives and stories. She is recognised internationally for her portraits, including her portrait series and book Being Inbetween, and is the founder of Through Our Lens, a workshop and mentoring programme that enables people to tell their stories through the medium of photography.

Her work has been exhibited internationally, with solo and group exhibitions in national galleries across the UK and Europe, and has been published by the BBC, The Guardian, The Sunday Times, The Telegraph, La Monde, and British Journal of Photography amongst many others. Carolyn’s awards include BJP Portrait of Britain 2017, 2019 and 2021, Open Wall Arles winner 2020, The Kuala Lumpa International Portrait Awards 2021, The Royal Photographic Society International Photography exhibitions RPS IPE 159 gold and she was a finalist for RPS IPE 160. In 2020, Carolyn was named winner of the Portrait Series category for the 15th Julia Margaret Cameron Awards. Carolyn was nominated for the RPS 100 heroines award. Her book Being Inbetween was published by Bluecoat Press in November 2020,

She is a freelance photographer with Bloomberg News, and Artist in Residence for Born In Bradford, alongside this she works on personal projects, portrait commissions, commercial briefs, lifestyle and fashion.

Carolyn is a Nikon Europe Ambassador & Ambassador for the Royal Photographic Society.

Jemella Ukaegbu has been a photographer for more than a decade running her business Mellz Photography LTD specialising in Maternity, Baby, and Wedding Photography and is the founder of the UK Black Female Photographers Community (UKBFTOG) which is a group dedicated to black female photographers to help them have a safe space to connect, learn photography tips and grow as a photographer in an industry dominated by men.

Jemella holds a First class degree in Photography and her work has been published in magazines and articles such as Ap Magazine, The Evening Standard, The Huffington Post, and also featured on ITV.

Christina is the founder and CEO of stock photo agencies Image Source and Cultura Creative. She was also recently elected President of CEPIC, the European Trade Body for Image Licensing and is the first woman in the role.

Prompted by the death of George Floyd in 2020, she decided to use her expertise in commercial photo licensing to create a new agency based around diversity – both in front of and behind the camera and so, Cultura launched in January 2021

Cultura celebrates creativity in photography, champions gender diversity and encourages diverse photographers from all backgrounds to work in the photography industry, understanding that different perspectives help us all innovate, celebrate gender and grow as humans united in cause, craft and commerce.

Christina has always sought to be inclusive in her work and family life – her mother was from the indigenous Hmar tribe of Mizoram in North East India and her father Anglo-Burmese. Christina was born in the North of England and has lived in London, New York, Paris and Argentina.

English fine art photographer Paul Sanders has been involved in photography since leaving school, first as a black and white printer, then as a fashion photographer, a career that led to a post at Reuters, and then The Times newspaper as Picture Editor, overseeing the entire visual content of the prestigious publication. Paul left The Times at the end of 2011 to pursue his love of nature and the landscape.

Paul’s approach to landscape photography is one of mindful connection. After looking at nearly 20,000 images every day during his years at the Times, his own work is made in response to his emotional and spiritual reactions to the locations he visits and reflect the sense of stillness and calm he feels whilst on location at the coast. The creation of the photograph is only half the story, as Paul is also passionate about printing. ‘I believe that a photograph should be viewed as a print to correctly appreciate it’, he says.

Paul’s, beautiful, highly reflective work has been exhibited widely across the UK, Europe & Japan, and has been recognised by Fujifilm who inaugurated him into their exclusive X Series Photographers. He is also a Lee Filters Master Photographer and Fotospeed ambassador.