Announcing the LensCulture Black and White Photography Awards 2023

Bindi Vora is an interdisciplinary photographic artist of Kenyan-Indian heritage, Associate Lecturer at London College of Communication and Curator at Autograph, a London-based non-profit arts charity that explores issues of identity, representation, human rights and social justice through photography. Since joining Autograph, she has curated Hélène Amouzou: Voyages (2023) Eric Gyamfi: Fixing Shadows – Julius and I (2023), Poulomi Basu: Fireflies (2022), co-curated Sasha Huber: You Name It (2022) Care I Contagion I Community – Self & Other (2021-2022); Lola Flash: [sur]passing and Maxine Walker: Untitled (both 2019); published a series artist conversations with Sasha Huber, Mónica Alcázar-Duarte, Maryam Wahid, Tobi Alexandra Falade, David Uzochukwu amongst others. She has independently curated Poulomi Basu: Centralia for Rencontres d’Arles – Louis Roederer Discovery Award (2020); Let’s Go Through This Again (2018); her writing has appeared in publications by Maryam Wahid Zaibuinnisa (MAC, 2022); Another Country: British Documentary Photography Since 1945 (Thames & Hudson); FOAM and British Journal of Photography, participating in public programmes for Tate, GRAIN Photo Hub, The Photographers’ Gallery, The Paul Mellon Centre amongst others. She is currently an artist-in-residence at the National Museums NI (Ulster Museum) as part of the 20/20 project, led by the UAL Decolonising Arts Institute.

Aya Musa is a curator at FOAM, the prominent photography museum in the Netherlands. Musa develops exhibitions at FOAM that provide a deepening and innovative interpretation of the museum’s artistic identity. Prior to this, Musa was a curator and head programmer at the Dutch Photomuseum. In his work, Musa combines social developments with new exhibition forms; where photography is not subordinate to the context from which it arises, but at the same time never loses sight of this context. In this way, he gives photography a stage that goes beyond existing clichés.

Caroline Wall is the director of the Robert Mann Gallery. She graduated from McGill University with a degree in Art History and began her career in the art world at the O’Hara Gallery before joining the team at Robert Mann Gallery in 2006. Robert Mann Gallery features several emerging artists along with an impressive roster of international superstars.

With the gallery, Caroline has participated in many national and international art fairs and works with numerous contemporary photographers and estates organizing both solo and curated group exhibitions. Caroline is a member of the Board of Directors of AIPAD.

Danielle A. Scruggs is a Photo Editor at The Wall Street Journals and a freelance photographer and writer living in Chicago, Illinois. She graduated from Howard University with a degree in journalism and from the Maryland Institute College of Art with a Master’s in Digital Art. Her photography clients include the New York Times, AARP, Buzzfeed News, ESPN, Financial Times, and the New Republic. She has written about art, culture, and film for RogerEbert.com, Ebony, Essence, Teen Vogue, Artsy Magazine, and other publications. Scruggs is also the founder and editor of Black Women Directors, a digital library highlighting the work of Black women and non-binary filmmakers throughout the Diaspora.

Barbara Tannenbaum has organized well over 100 exhibitions during her four-decade career as a curator and academic. From 1985 through 2011, she was chief curator at the Akron Art Museum, where she grew the photography collection from 500 to 2,500 works. She has authored numerous publications including books on TR Ericsson, Ralph Eugene Meatyard, and print-on-demand photobooks, and lectured throughout the U.S. and in Canada, Brazil, and China. As Curator of Photography at The Cleveland Museum of Art, Barbara’s recent and future shows have focused on 19th and 20th century artists including Raja Deen Dayal, American Pictorialist photographers, Ilse Bing, Lois Conner, Aaron Rothman, Tyler Mitchell, Matt Eich, Barbara Bosworth, and Ann Hamilton.

After six years of experience in museum management, Gwen Lee went on to pursue her first love for photography and founded Singapore International Photography Festival (SIPF), the longest running photography festival in Southeast Asia. In 2014, Lee and her team built DECK, an arts centre dedicated to photography arts to provide year-round programming for the community and residency programmes for photographers. Lee has curated over 60 photography exhibitions in Singapore and overseas. In addition to many other awards and honors, in 2022, Lee was a Recipient of Chevalier, Ordre des Arts et des Lettres conferred by Ministry of Culture, France.

Jim Casper is the editor-in-chief of LensCulture, one of the leading online destinations to discover contemporary photography from around the world. As an active member in the contemporary photography world, Casper organizes annual international photography events, travels around the world to meet with photographers and review their portfolios, curates art exhibitions, writes about photography and culture, lectures, conducts workshops, serves as an international juror and nominator for key awards, and is an advisor to arts and education organizations.