The University of the Arts London (UAL) has announced the winner of its inaugural Paul Lowe Award for Photojournalism and Documentary Photography.
The award was launched in honor of the late, renowned photojournalist Paul Lowe (1963–2024), who worked at the university for over two decades as a course leader and professor of conflict, peace and the image.
UAL has said that the accolade recognizes “outstanding work” by a graduate student on the MA Photojournalism and Documentary Photography course at the institution's London College of Communication.
The inaugural recipient of the Paul Lowe Award was Ethan Fenton, a London-based photographer, whose project, The Shed, “explores the relationship” between how humans and machines understand an image.
Fenton said that his work raises questions about how the act of remembering may change as algorithms become increasingly advanced and potentially involved in determining which images we keep and discard.
UAL’s award judges praised Fenton’s multimedia project, which included a “stunning” large-format analog photograph, audio recordings of human voices, projection mapping and machine vision, describing it as a “fantastic, exciting piece of contemporary documentary work.”
The judges added: “We thought Paul, who was endlessly curious about the evolving ways in which photography inspires different ways of seeing, thinking and understanding, would have loved this project.”
ABOVE: Ethan Fenton receives commendation for The Shed
Paul Lowe was best known for his conflict and documentary photography, particularly his intimate coverage of the Siege of Sarajevo (1992-1996) during the Bosnian War. Over a career spanning more than 80 countries, his work was published by major international magazines including Time and Life.
In October 2024, Lowe was fatally stabbed in the neck at the age of 60 while in the San Gabriel Mountains near Los Angeles, California. He had traveled to the US to help his then 19-year-old son, Emir Abadzic Lowe, who, according to his mother, had a history of mental illness and had failed to return home from a trip.
According to police and preliminary court testimony, the two argued before Emir allegedly stabbed his father once in the neck inside their rented SUV and drove away, crashing a few miles later.
Emir Abadzic Lowe was arrested and charged with one count of murder. He pleaded not guilty at West Covina Courthouse in Los Angeles, where his murder case has proceeded through preliminary hearings.
Steve Cross, deputy provost for London College of Communication, said: “Paul’s approach emerged out of a generosity of spirit and a desire to connect that actively worked against the sense of fatalism that exposure to the worst aspects of humanity can foster.
“This award seeks to honor the legacy Paul has left behind and to reflect his passion for photography.”
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