A panel of esteemed judges will judge each competition entry. Read on to find out more about each of our accomplished judges.
Alison Jackson Founder
Alison Jackson (Founder of DIYL Photography Competition) is a contemporary, BAFTA and multi award-winning artist who explores the cult of celebrity. Jackson makes convincingly realistic work about celebrities doing things in private using cleverly-styled lookalikes. Likeness becomes real and fantasy touches on the believable. She creates scenarios we have all imagined but have never seen before.
Alison Jackson was a Councillor for Chelsea Riverside ward and is a trustee for The Chelsea Theatre, Royal College of Arts alumni council and an ambassador for Spinal Injuries Association.
Rankin
Rankin is a British photographer, publisher, and film director. Alongside being head of the eponymous agency RANKIN, which hosts an 80+ strong team that puts strategy, creative and production all under one roof.
Through RANKIN, he is best known for work that is on the cultural cusp and leading future trends: producing rule-breaking campaigns for brands such as Rolls Royce, Unilever, L’Oreal and Samsonite; creating wide reaching projects for charities including Women’s Aid and Macmillan; and shooting music videos for the likes of Miley Cyrus, Rita Ora and Kelis.
As a photographer Rankin’s portfolio ranges from portraiture to documentary. He has shot The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Kate Moss, Kendall Jenner and The Queen to name only a few.
As a publisher, Rankin co-founded the seminal magazine Dazed & Confused with Jefferson Hack in 1991, and has since published the likes of AnOther and AnOther Man, alongside over 40 books and the biannual fashion and culture print and digital platform, Hunger.
His photography has been published everywhere from his own publications to Elle, Vogue, Esquire, GQ, Rolling Stone, and Wonderland, and exhibited in galleries globally, including MoMA, New York, and the Victoria & Albert Museum, London.
Dr. Chila Kumari Singh Burman, MBE
Continually seeking to break stereotypes and emancipate the image of women, Burnman often uses self-portraiture as a tool of empowerment and self-determination.
More recently, she was selected as the fourth artist to complete the Tate Britain Winter Commission in 2020. The resulting hugely popular installation Remembering A Brave New World, addressed the colonial history of Tate Britain and its Eurocentric position.
In 2017, she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate and Honorary Fellowship from the University of Arts in London.
Photo credit: Lorenzo Agius
Richard Young is at the forefront of celebrity photography. With a career spanning over 40 years, (and no sign of stopping anytime soon!) Young’s exceptional eye and unique approach has cemented him as the most trusted and prolific contemporary photographer to the stars. As both a portraitist and photojournalist, his unerring ability to capture the moment and present a candid, inside view into the world of celebrity has resulted in iconic images that are celebrated in publications throughout the world.
Nick Rhodes
Record producer, Nick Rhodes, has been at the forefront of contemporary music for several decades. He is also a prominent figure in the international art world, and a published photographer and writer. Currently, alongside his work with Duran Duran he is directing a documentary on Post-war Japanese photography.
James Hyman
Dr James Hyman (PhD, Courtauld Institute, 1995) is an art historian and dealer who founded James Hyman Gallery in 1999 and launched James Hyman Photography in 2008 to develop a programme of museum-quality photography exhibitions—most notably the Linda McCartney retrospective co-curated with Sir Paul McCartney. He is a regular exhibitor at Photo London, where he presents vintage and contemporary works, and advises collectors as well as public institutions on photographic acquisitions worldwide
Sophie Parker
Sophie Parker is the Director of Photo London, having been promoted to the role in July 2024 after six years with the fair—first as Gallery Development Manager in 2018 and then as Associate Director in 2021—where she helped steer its post-pandemic recovery and shape its acclaimed ninth edition . With over a decade of experience organizing exhibitions, events and workshops across fine art, photography, performance and history, she holds an MA in Anthropology and Cultural Politics from Goldsmiths, University of London, and a BA (Hons) in History of Art and Design from Manchester Metropolitan University, and sits on the Advisory Board of the Ian Parry Photojournalism Grant
Past Judges
Sir Trevor Phillips
Trevor Phillips is a writer and television producer. He is the co-founder of the data analytics consultancy Webber Phillips, and Chairman of Green Park Interim and Executive Search. He is a Times columnist, shortlisted for Comment Writer of the Year in 2020.
He is the Chairman of the global freedom of expression campaign charity Index on Censorship; a Senior Fellow at the Policy Exchange think tank; and a Vice-President of the Royal Television Society.
Trevor is a non-executive director of the AIM-listed behavioural science consultancy Mind Gym; he was the President of the John Lewis Partnership Council until 2018, and founding chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
David Ross
David Ross is a UK-based entrepreneur and philanthropist best known for co-founding The Carphone Warehouse Group plc in 1991. He has served as a trustee of the National Portrait Gallery since 2006 and was elected Chair of its Board in September 2017, with his current term extending to October 2025. Through the David Ross Foundation and the David Ross Education Trust, he supports educational and cultural initiatives—from sponsoring the Nevill Holt Opera to operating over 30 academies across Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire—while championing greater access to British contemporary art.