Established in the early 1980s, the AOP Student Awards recognize emerging photographic talent existing in further education institutions across the UK. Using large format photography to document coal miners in South Wales, Rupert Allen has now been named the overall winner of the competition and also received Gold in the Portrait category.
Through impactful black-and-white photography, Rupert Allen (studying BA Hons Photojournalism and Documentary Photography at the University of Gloucestershire) created an impactful portrait series titled Church of Coal. He shot all images on 5x4in large format Ilford HP5 film, documenting the coal miners who used to work, and those who still work in the last operating drift colliery in Western Europe.
