The Ken Griffiths Bureau Photography Award

‘The Bureau’ is an office for the arts, where creativity comes to thrive. This is why we made The Ken Griffiths Bureau Award as one of our first projects: a photography competition that celebrates the wonders of the world, bringing awareness to the beauty of our planet and the people on it.

The award will support talent by putting their work in front of a panel of renowned judges from the world of photography, publishing and art. The winners will receive a prize, and their work will be showcased in an exhibition in 2022. A selection of the works will also be displayed in The Bureau Gallery in Frome, Somerset.

Ken Griffiths was a New Zealand born photojournalist who arrived in London in 1969 to study photography at the Royal College of Art. Just a couple of years later, he won the Telegraphs “Young Photographer of the Year” award, marking the beginning of a brilliant career where he contributed to a wide range of periodicals, from the Sunday Times and Traveller to Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and Vanity Fair, to name a few. His adventurous spirit meant he travelled the world telling the stories of people and the land. Staying true to old-fashioned photographic equipment and his trusty Gandolfi Camera (as seen in our logo!), he never gave in to the lure of digital photography. Ken was one of a kind and we want to celebrate his passion for the craft through this Award.

Timothy Allen:
born in Tonbridge in the South East of England in 1971. At 22, he left the UK and spent 3 years traveling through Indonesia before beginning a part-time diploma in photography at Hereford College of Art and Design. After joining an aid convoy to Bosnia in order to shoot his first year reportage project his work received some attention and he consequently left college, moved to London and began working for the Sunday Telegraph, later inspiring commissions from all the British broadsheet publications and finally, a 6 year position at The Independentworking predominantly on features and portraits.

Beginning in 2009 the BBC commissioned Timothy to work on the landmark series Human Planet. For two years he was in charge of the production’s photography, his job included shooting film footage and multimedia content as well as the conventional photographic stills destined for use in the programme’s worldwide publicity, a best selling book and a touring photographic exhibition.

Robin Bell:
is one of Britain's most respected black & white printers. He is one of the few professionals who continue to specialise in hand processing black & white film and hand printing black & white images, all to an exceptionally high standard.

Over the years, Robin has printed for many world-renowned photographers, including Ernst Haas, Terry O'Neill, Eve Arnold, Don McCullin, Ken Griffiths, David Bailey, Tom Stoddart, Bill Brandt, Clive Arrowsmith, Richard Avedon, Terence Donovan, Norman Parkinson and Linda McCartney, as well as many others.

Robin's versatility, dedication and collaborative approach have made him a favourite with photographers of all genres. Robin approaches every project – however large or small - with exactly the same level of care and attention to detail; helping photographers bring out the best in their images and working closely with them to achieve the desired end result. From folio images to editorial & documentary, from advertising and marketing to archives and historic collections, Robin has participated in almost every sphere of black & white printing .

As well as working on exhibitions for these established photographers, he continues to process and print for many new photographers who work with film and also convert digital files into black and white negatives, from which silver gelatin prints can be made—a handy partnership between old and new technology.