A collaboration between British Journal of Photography and Galerie Huit Arles, OpenWalls Arles is an international photography award designed to elevate the careers of emerging and established photographers by exhibiting their work in the prestigious and historic location of Arles.
For the fourth edition of the award, 50 winning single images and two series respond to the theme of Truth. By choosing Truth as the theme, British Journal of Photography sought to sample the breadth of photographic interpretations of truth – encouraging projects on self-actualisation, political realities, historic storytelling and family closeness.
One of Heather Agyepong’s winning images, Somebody Stop Me, is from her ego death series, originally commissioned as part of Jerwood/Photoworks Awards 4. Heather created ego death, a project inspired by psychiatrist Carl Jung’s concept of ‘The Shadow’. According to Jung, the shadow is composed of aspects of one’s personality deemed inappropriate that have been shamed and repressed, generally during childhood and adolescence, by family, education, social norms, and other external factors. Heather worked to discover and explore her own shadow; confronting and making peace with it through this body of work.
Heather is a visual artist, performer/actor and maker. Her practice is concerned with mental health and well-being, activism, invisibility, the diaspora and the archive. She uses both lens-based practices and performance with an aim to culminate a cathartic experience for both herself and the viewer. Heather has previously been awarded Jerwood New Work Fund 2019, and Jerwood/Photoworks Awards 4.
The winners of OpenWalls Arles 2022 include 50 winning single images and two winning series, the full list of winners can be viewed in a virtual gallery on the British Journal of Photography website. The winning images were selected by a panel of judges:
- Julia de Bierre – gallery Director, Galerie Huit Arles
- Mutsuko Ota – Editorial Director, IMA magazine
- Sarah Leen – Founder of Visual Thinking Collective and Former Director of Photography, National Geographic
- Paris Chong – Gallery Director, Leica Gallery LA
- Michael Famighetti – Editor, Aperture magazine
- Azu Nwagbogu – Founder and Director of African Artists’ Foundation and Director at Lagos Photo Festival
- Matt Alagiah – Editor-in-Chief, It’s Nice That.
The 50 winning single images and two series will be exhibited from 5 July to 23 September 2023 at Galerie Huit Arles – 8 Rue de la Calade, Arles, France.
