Meet Our Guests
Special guests from the world of art and culture regularly lend their invaluable professional and personal perspectives to Children of Vision. From renowned artists, critics and curators to insightful writers, academics and philosophers, guests are invited to choose an image that speaks to them from our submissions, and respond with a written commentary.
Meet our international guests and explore their inspired writing, which acknowledges the young photographers for their artistic expression and unpacks a deeper meaning behind their images.
Ayishat Akanbi
Ayishat is a fashion stylist, cultural commentator and writer passionate about arts, psychology and politics. She has styled and consulted for Reebok, Nike, Adidas, Fila, Converse and Ellesse and her celebrity clients include Labrinth, Wretch 32, Amir Khan, Ed Sheeran, Koffee, Craig David and many more.
Ayishat has spoken at the Sydney Opera House, V&A Museum, Tate Museum, The Design Museum and Google. She aims to help make politics more engaging for young people and campaigns for it to be taught in schools, and is an active supporter of budding creators and young entrepreneurs and academics.
Zoe Whishaw
Zoe is an expert in the visual language of photography for commercial and editorial use. She worked at Getty Images for 17 years from its earliest beginnings through to it becoming the global media content agency that it is today. She was the European Director of Photography and a consultant for several other leading independent photo agencies before becoming a mentor to photographers.⠀⠀
Zoe has judged numerous photographic awards, including Association of Photographers Awards, London Photo Festival, and Wildlife Photographer of the Year and regularly conducts portfolio reviews.
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David Drake
David is the director of Ffotogallery and the Diffusion International Photography Festival, in Cardiff, Wales. The Diffusion Festival hosted our exhibition last year and David has become a big supporter of Children of Vision.
Simon Roberts
Simon is a renowned British photographer, exhibiting widely with work is in major public and private collections, including the George Eastman House and V&A Museum in London. He was the official British Election Artist commissioned to create work for the UK Parliamentary Art Collection and published four critically acclaimed books.
Michal Iwanowski
Michal is an international artist who combines documentary photography tradition with a conceptual approach, enriched by his experience of many cultures. Born in Poland and based in Wales, he has received recognition for his work worldwide, with numerous exhibitions, prestigious residencies, awards and publications. He also works with young people, helping them understand and learn the skills of photography, videomaking, animation, music, and writing at Media Academy Cardiff, Wales.
Catherine Fehily
Catherine is the head of the Crawford College of Art and Design, Cork, Ireland. She has worked in Higher Education in Art, Design and the Humanities for more than 35 years. Catherine taught and led the BA Photography programme at Staffordshire University, UK, before becoming Head of School and then Associate Dean of Faculty, and finally taking up her current role as Head of College in Cork.
Raoul Eshelman
Raoul is a professor at the Ludwig-Maximilian University in Munich, Germany. Prof. Eshelman has a special interest in the visual art and is an author of numerous articles on photography, film, literature and architecture as well as two books on development of culture across different disciplines. ⠀⠀
Olga Viieru
Olga is the head of the national centre Ukrainian House in Kyiv, Ukraine and director of the charitable foundation Mystetskyi Arsenal, which hosted the very first Children of Vision public installation. She is passionate about making art and culture accessible to all, and gives a voice to children and young people through the various social programmes and forums she has initiated.
Sebah Chaudhry
Sebah is a Creative Producer, Curator and passionate advocate for emerging artists. Sebah has been the Coordinator at Format Festival , the UK’s largest contemporary photography festival, and has worked with Dong Gang Festival in South Korea, Beijing Photo, China and festivals in Germany, Poland and the USA.
Tom Seymour
Tom is one of the leading writers on photography for numerous publications including The New York Times, British Journal of Photography, Royal Photographic Society, BBC, CNN and Financial Times, and a photography correspondent for The Art Newspaper and Wallpaper.
Malcolm Dickson
Malcolm is a curator, writer and the Director of Street Level Photoworks - a photography gallery and a leading arts organisation in Scotland, which celebrates its 30th birthday this year. He is passionate about creating opportunities for artists and the general community to create and engage with various genres of photography through an extensive programme of local and international collaborations.