THIS WEEK ON A SMALL VOICE PODCAST...

British documentary photographer Mike Abrahams on growing up in post-war Liverpool, Network Photographers, religious ceremony and the impetus behind his new book, This Was Then.

Full bio and show notes for the episode here.

“You can go here, there and everywhere, and I have travelled a lot and it’s been interesting and fascinating, but you’re always the outsider coming in. You don’t really know the story. It’s glamorous, it’s exotic, it’s fascinating, but I think it’s much harder to photograph your home turf. You come to it with quite an honest perspective. It’s the land you’re living in, you're conscious of the differences in the country between the north, south, east and west, the regions… it’s kind of embedded in you, the differences..” – Mike Abrahams

ALSO...

As mentioned in the podcast intro, the UK’s creative industries just launched a bold campaign to highlight how their content is at risk of being given away for free to AI firms as the government proposes weakening copyright law. A government consultation seeking views on the copyright issue closed on Tuesday 25th February.

"The Make it Fair campaign was developed to raise awareness among the British public about the existential threat posed to the creative industries from generative AI models, many of which scrape creative content from the internet without permission, acknowledgement, and critically, without payment.

The impact on creative businesses and individuals throughout the country – who collectively generate over £120 billion a year towards the UK economy – will be devastating if this continues unchecked, or worse still if the government legitimises this content theft.

On 25 February, which is the last day of the government’s consultation, regional and national daily news brands are running the same cover wrap and homepage takeover." (The Guardian)

The Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize  

The Photographer's Gallery in London will, as usual, host the annual exhibition of work by the four shortlisted artists in contention for this award from Friday 7th March 2025.

"This long-standing annual prize, originally established in 1996, is one of the most important international awards for contemporary photographers. The Prize spotlights outstanding, innovative and thought-provoking work by artists whose exhibitions or books have made a significant contribution to photography over the past year."

The four international artists shortlisted for the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize 2025 are: Cristina De Middel, Rahim Fortune, Tarrah Krajnak and Lindokuhle Sobekwa.

The 2025 shortlisted projects feature documentary photography, constructed images, self-portraiture, performance and family archives. Themes of migration, community and belonging, intergenerational traditions and rituals, family memories and histories are brought together in a powerful shortlist which highlights some of the best work shown or published in Europe in the past year.

The winner of the £30,000 Prize will be announced at an award ceremony at The Photographers’ Gallery on 15 May 2025, with the other finalists each receiving £5,000. Full details of the Prize exhibition and award evening will be announced in early 2025.

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