Guildford College Student wins National Photography Competition

Guildford College student Julia Rapaport, 18, has been announced a winner of this year’s Holocaust Memorial Trust’s photographic competition which marks Holocaust Memorial Day on 27 January.

The trust’s theme for this year is One Day. To find out what the theme meant to young people across the UK, they asked young people to send in a photo that finished the sentence ‘One day…

Julia is a year 2 student studying Creative Practice at Guildford College and wanted to convey a specific message in her competition entry.

Julia said: “I wanted to create a photograph that focused on both the hope and memory of the Holocaust survivors. 

“I chose to represent this with the use of the ‘Forget-me-not’ flower, symbolising on one side the victims, and on the other, the persecutors – who, by plucking the petals, illustrate their control over the prisoner’s destiny.

“The meaning behind the flower is to ‘never be forgotten’, the victims of the Holocaust are reaching out, soiled in dirt and bruises, desperate not to be a part of the faceless millions who died beside them.”

Julia’s image has also been used in prominent positions on the trust’scompetition website such as the front cover and landing page, confirming the quality of the work. 

Julia’s tutor, Chris Saunders said: “We are all very proud of Julia and the work of all our Creative Practice students here at Guildford College. This is a fantastic achievement.”

A stellar line up judged the competition including star photographer Rankin, Open Eye curator Mariama Attah, and Rwandan survivor and photographer Mussa Uwitonze. They were joined by HMDT Trustee Tulip Siddiq MP and the Holocaust Memorial Trust’s CEO, Olivia Marks-Woldman OBE. 

Judge, Tulip Siddique, MP, said: “I was blown away by the photos, all of which were powerful and poignant. The photos gave me hope that as a society we can learn from the mistakes of the past and forge a better future.”