Ampersand/Photoworks Fellowship: 2025 recipient announced

Photoworks is pleased to announce Nicholas J.R. White as the recipient of the 2025 Ampersand/Photoworks Fellowship. Now in its third edition, the Ampersand/Photoworks Fellowship is a biennial opportunity for mid-career artists to create and exhibit a new body of work. It offers a combination of support that includes a £15,000 award, mentoring, curatorial support, a dedicated public program, digital content, a production budget, and a touring exhibition in the UK.

Over the course of the next year, White will develop a new body of work, exploring the landscapes and communities of Barrow-in-Furness, and the natural and cultural ecosystems that exist in the shadow of the UK’s nuclear submarine programme. Barrow-in-Furness is home to the BAE System’s shipyard, the only facility in the country where nuclear submarines are designed and built, including those that carry the UK’s Trident Missiles. As a result, Barrow’s economy and identity are deeply entwined with defence policy. The consequences of sustaining the juggernaut of military manufacturing have become even more profound in 2025, as the UK increases its defence spending budget and suggests its preparedness for war. So vital is Barrow-in-Furness' role in national defence, that this year the town was awarded royal status. Equipped with a Large Format 5X4 field camera, White hopes to offer an alternative perspective to the dominant narratives of decline and defence infrastructure that have long defined this northern English town.


Following the success of past fellows Johny Pitts (2021) and Felicity Hammond (2023), the prestigious selection panel unanimously awarded this year's fellowship to Nicholas J.R. White, a photographer based in the Scottish Highlands whose work explores landscape, belonging, and community.

Flor Souto, Director of The Ampersand Foundation, said “We created this fellowship to help mid-career artists take a genuine step-change in their career, offering recipients the time and support needed to deepen their practice and create impactful work. Nicholas J.R. White’s project exploring the landscapes and communities of Barrow-in-Furness, comes at a pivotal moment in his artistic journey, and truly reflects the spirit of the Ampersand/Photoworks Fellowship. We are proud to welcome him as the recipient of the third edition of the fellowship, and we look forward to seeing how his work continues to evolve.

Felicity Hammond, Artist and current Ampersand/Photoworks Fellow, said “I am thrilled that Nicholas has been selected for the next Ampersand/Photoworks Fellowship – his proposal to thoroughly investigate the town of Barrow-in-Furness is one of political urgency. Nicholas is an incredibly skilled photographer, and I am really looking forward to seeing how he applies his highly developed approach to this critical context”.

Louise Fedotov-Clements, Director of Photoworks, said, “We are delighted to share the news of our third Ampersand/Photoworks Fellowship recipient, and to have received so many strong applications from across the UK. Nicholas J.R. White’s work stood out to us, for its compelling narrative and his strong portfolio. We look forward to working with Nicholas as he progresses this exciting and ambitious project”

The process for the award began with an open call in July 2025, receiving over 200 applications from UK-based artists. The pre-selectors included Amin Yousefi, Danit Ariel, Josie Saunders, Natalia González Acosta and Louise Fedotov-Clements, all from Photoworks.

The renowned selection panel included Danit Ariel, Curator, Photoworks; Felicity Hammond, artist and second recipient of the fellowship Shoair Mavlian, Director, The Photographers Gallery; Flor Souto, Director, The Ampersand Foundation. Charmaine Toh, Senior Curator, International Art (Photography) Tate.

Nicolas J.R White
Nicholas J.R. White is a photographer based in the Scottish Highlands whose work focusses on landscape, belonging and community. White’s debut monograph ‘Black Dots’, portrayed the UK’s network of mountain huts and the community of strangers that temporarily inhabit them. The work was shortlisted for the World Photography Organisation ZEISS photo awards and was awarded the Royal Photographic Society Environmental Bursary. Since 2018, White has collaborated with a Romanian NGO, recording their efforts to establish a wilderness reserve in the Southern Carpathian Mountains. Portraits from this project were included in the British Journal of Photography Portrait of Humanity awards. White regularly undertakes assignments for outlets including National Geographic, The New York Times and the Financial Times, covering environmental and community stories including hydropower development in Bosnia and Herzegovina, to the preservation of Dark Skies on sparsely populated Scottish Islands. White’s work appears in numerous publications and has been exhibited globally, and in 2025 a number of works were acquired for the Royal Albert Memorial Museum (UK) permanent collection. In 2025 Nicholas was awarded a commission to document the changing tide of the British Port town, Barrow-in-Furness as part of a project supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, coinciding with the King of England granting the town Royal Status in recognition of its nuclear submarine building programme.

Felicity Hammond’s work from the Ampersand/Photoworks Fellowship is still on exhibit at Stills Centre for Photography, Edinburgh, until February 2026.


About Photoworks
Photoworks champions photography for everyone. We are an international platform, global in reach, and have provided opportunities for artists and audiences since 1995. Through our partnerships and programmes, we bring new experiences to audiences and open up new ways to encounter photography. Photoworks is a registered charity and the only organisation with a national remit for photography in England. Our work is supported by public funding through Arts Council England’s National Portfolio.
photoworks.org.uk
@photoworks_uk


About The Ampersand Foundation
The Ampersand Foundation is a UK grant-awarding charity dedicated exclusively to the visual arts. It funds high-quality exhibitions and visual arts projects, provided they are free to the public at least one day per week. Additionally, the Foundation supports the expansion of public collections, collection care, artists' residencies, and fellowships, with a primary focus on organisations and projects within the United Kingdom.
theampersandfoundation.com
@ampersandfoundation

About Spectrum
Spectrum is a longstanding professional imaging lab specialising in high quality fine art and photographic printing, as well as archival mounting. They are proud of the reputation that they have established for themselves and are known for their high quality, passion, and above all, excellent service to their customers.
spectrumphoto.co.uk