Celebrating Emerging Talent: The Photo London x Hahnemühle Student Award Returns for Its Third Year at Somerset House
As Photo London celebrates its tenth anniversary in 2025, the Photo London x Hahnemühle Student Award marks its third year of spotlighting the next generation of photographic talent. Held at the iconic Somerset House on the 17th May 2025, this initiative continues to provide a prestigious platform for UK-based photography students to showcase their work to a wider audience. Students shortlisted for the award had the opportunity to bring their visions to life by printing their work at Spectrum Photographic, one of our certified Hahnemühle studios.
Billy Allen
Billy Allen is a photographer based in Bristol, studying at the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol), and often shooting his photographic work in Budapest, Hungary. During an exchange semester he undertook in the spring of 2024, he made the kind of creative connections that have enabled him to collaborate effectively with different individuals. He finds inspiration through travel, seeing the world and embracing diverse cultures. Creating fictional narratives from observations in everyday life is what stimulates him; identifying curiosities in the world that can be materialized into absurd creations through the lens. His background in construction has dovetailed well with a passion for the fashion idiom and led to him becoming a visual builder, using objects and unconventional materials for styling and texture. Billy’s father is a skilled artisan, and he has consequently inherited an interest in and ability to use diverse materials to construct sculptural environments that stage his imaginative tableau. Billy enjoys it when there is a sense of ambiguity in his work, when questions are asked about what is in the frame, or when people create their own ideas and stories from his imagery.
„My choice of paper stock would be Hahnemühle Bamboo. Finding a balance between optimizing the tonal range of my imagery and employing texture is the key here. I often use textured paper stocks to increase the gravity of the imagery through a process of printing and re- photographing. The bamboo paper stock is one fo the most environmentally friendly in the Digital FineArt range, which was also an important factor when making the decision.“
Nina Kostamo Deschamps
Nina Kostamo Deschamps is a photographer, visual artist, and design lead based in Rovaniemi, Finland. Originally from Northern Finland, she spent nearly two decades living and working in Paris, Madrid, the French Riviera, and Helsinki before returning to Lapland. Her recent work explores themes of place attachment, sense of place, and human-nature relationships. Family and community are central elements in her artistic practice. Additionally, her work investigates how climate change andcultural shifts are reshaping life in Arctic communities from human-centered perspectives. In 2025, Kostamo Deschamps completed her Master of Arts in Photography with distinction from Falmouth University, UK. She previously studied Documentary Practice and Visual Journalism at the International Center of Photography and earned a professional degree in photography in Finland.Committed to community engagement, Kostamo Deschamps frequently facilitates photography workshops, photo walks, and collaborative projects focusing on memory and place. She is the founder of Studio 67 North, a creative studio specializing in portrait photography. Her work has been exhibited internationally, including in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Finland.
„For my series Usva, I chose Hahnemühle Photo Rag® Matt Baryta for its soft, tactile texture that enhances depth and fine detail. It feels well-suited to this collection of black and white Polaroid, film, and digital photographs—handling each format with sensitivity. I feel the paper’s sheen resonates with the mood of the series, adding a quiet tone that complements its atmosphere and reflective nature.“
Nika Krykun
Nika Krykun is a multimedia artist from Kyiv, Ukraine, who has been based in London since May 2022. Her work utilises different art mediums, and in addition to photography, has also worked with painting, sculpture, performance, film and music. In 2019, she graduated from the Kyiv School of Art and Music, and during her studies participated in various concerts and exhibitions across Ukraine and Europe. Two years before the invasion started, Krykun took part as an actress in ‘Stop Zemlia’, the Berlinale winning feature by Kateryna Gornostai. In 2024, she joined two other artists from Ukraine to form the Triyka art collective, staging two exhibitions in London. Krykun’s current primary focus is analogue photography.
“For my photo series Svitlo (Light), I chose Hahnemühle Fine Art Pearl paper for its bright white base, delicate texture, and smooth, silky feel. Striking a perfect balance between glossy and matte, this paper enhances the depth and luminosity of each portrait. The art-like quality of the images is further elevated by the subtle texture, which adds a tactile dimension and complements the ethereal essence of the series.”
Jessica Lowther
Jessica Lowther is a UK-based photographic artist whose work questions Artificial Intelligence’s place in the art world, exploring memory, authenticity, and the reconstruction of her past. She is currently studying BA (Hons) Photography at Arts University Bournemouth. By combining archival family photographs and AI-generated imagery, Lowther investigates the fragility of personal and collective memory, reimagining lost or unreliable moments and challenging photography’s role as a truthful record. Her ongoing project, ‘Familiar Strangers’, draws from her mother’s recollections –descriptive yet unreliable memories that become the foundation for her AI-generated series. In doing so, she highlights the parallels between human memory and AI’s reconstructive processes, both of which are liable to distortion. Through this, Lowther invites the audience to consider the shifting boundaries between fact and fiction in photography and challenges the notion of reality and perception.
“Prior to this amazing experience, I hadn’t explored a wide range of Hahnemühle papers, although the few I had the opportunity to use during University printed beautifully. Initially, I intended to use Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Pearl, which I’ve previously used in exhibited work. However, after reviewing Hahnemühle’s exceptional fine art range, I selected Hahnemühle Bamboo Gloss Baryta for my exhibition prints. It aligned perfectly with my project’s intentions – its glossy finish represents the aesthetic of family snapshot photography, adding both depth and a sense of realism through the paper’s texture. The paper maintains vibrancy and exposure, enhancing the lifelike quality of entirely artificially generated images.”
Dulcie Wagstaff
Dulcie Wagstaff is a British photographer, based in Bristol, England. Her practice seeks to visualise often invisible elements of the human experience – such as spirituality, mental health, family bonds, dreams, and societal fears – exploring common narratives that shape us as individuals and as communities in the hope that by unveiling them we can learn from them. Wagstaff’s work has been featured in The Telegraph, Der Greif and elsewhere, and was shortlisted for the Welcome Photography Prize 2020. She is also a founding member of Make Hay While The Sun Shines, an artist network that hosts monthly events which facilitate peer-to-peer feedback around the work of emerging photographers, and participates on book fairs, events and exhibitions. Wagstaff graduated with a BA (Hons) in Photography from the University of Brighton in 2016; she is currently completing a MA in Photography at the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol).
“I have chosen to print my work on Hahnemühle Photo Silk Baryta X. I have selected this paper because my images contain fine textural details which could easily be lost in a textured paper. This paper’s smooth finish allows the detailed imagery to look its best. Photo Silk Baryta X also has a subtle silky sheen which mimics the reflections that can be seen within my images, creating soft and hazy reflections that enhance the mood of the images.”
About Hahnemühle
Hahnemühle is considered the inventor of Premium Digital FineArt papers for inkjet printing. As a pioneer, the oldest German artist paper manufactory has been refining its artist papers for photography and art reproductions and in 2022 Hahnemühle celebrated the 25th anniversary of its Digital FineArt collection. Hahnemühle is an international premium manufacturer of exquisite papers and has stood for quality, innovation and expertise in crafting since its founding in 1584. In 2024, the company celebrates an incredible 440 years of uninterrupted paper production at Hahnemühle’s headquarters in southern Lower Saxony.
The Digital Fine Art Collection is a comprehensive assortment of high-quality, unique FineArt inkjet papers created for customers who are looking for something special and want to get the best out of their images. Achieving outstanding printing results and a high age resistance of over 100 years, Hahnemühle FineArt inkjet papers meet the highest standards for fine art applications and are perfect for long-term exhibitions, art collections and special editions.
The Hahnemühle Digital FineArt Collection offers more than 20 different papers, while the Hahnemühle Photo Range now includes 8 media. Among them is the world’s first PF-free, fully recyclable photo paper with a bio-based barrier layer.
All paper grades are produced according to old recipes from high-quality cotton fibres, cellulose or fast-growing plant fibres with advantages in CO2 balance, durability and quality benefits utilising pure spring water from Hahnemühle´s own artesian wells.
Hahnemühle has a worldwide reputation as a ‘Brand of the Century’ among photographers, artists, museums, galleries and collectors. Products are available in more than 130 countries worldwide.
The company is headquartered in Dassel, Southern Lower Saxony; with offices in the United Kingdom, France, USA, Singapore and China.
For further information on the brand, history and environmental responsibilities visit www.hahnemuehle.com
About Spectrum Photographic
The artworks for the Photo London Hahnemühle Student Award were professionally printed by Spectrum Photographic, a Hahnemühle Certified Studio Gold partner. Based in the heart of Brighton, Spectrum Photographic work with international art galleries, museums and world-renowned photographers, specializing in fine art giclée and photographic printing as well as archival mounting and a range of museum and exhibition-quality services. Spectrum Photographic have prided themselves on high-quality output and excellent customer service for over twenty-five years. As one of the UK’s leading printing and finishing centers, Spectrum Photographic has expert knowledge, exceptional products and fantastic final results.
