Student earns prize nomination for CCTV photography collection

Lilli Burridge Payne is on the shortlist for the Wolf Suschitzky Photography Prize, named after the late Austrian photographer, an honorary graduate of the university.

Lilli’s series of shots, entitled ‘you have been watching’, was nominated by an international panel for the award, which is open to photographers based in Austria, Suschitzky’s birth country, and Britain, his adopted home.

The work of all the shortlisted will be on display at the Austrian Cultural Forum in London until 26 April 2019.

Lilli said she felt “surprised” and “incredibly lucky” to have been nominated, and that ‘you have been watching’ raises topical questions of surveillance and privacy.

She said: ‘“you have been watching’ is a series investigating unsecure CCTV surveillance cameras from across the world. The series looks into what these cameras are recording and whether the subjects know of their presence.

Glenwood Springs, United States by Lilli Burridge Payne

“This also highlights how our world has become transfixed on security by questioning how our privacy has been breached in the name of security.

“The project is relevant in today’s society as we are being watched more than ever, as a ‘watched state’. There is new technology, new ways of hacking, and no more privacy. The public are more concerned of terror, but are CCTV cameras preventative of it?”

Lilli drew on a Russian website called Insecam in her project, which streams thousands of unsecure private CCTV cameras from across the world. Originally, these streams were intended as a means of tracking criminal behaviour, but the website’s function soon shifted.

“When put into the context of the site, users become voyeurs of the streams, with some commenting on particular subjects in a perverse and inappropriate manner,” said Lilli. “The images demonstrate the epitome of the ‘everyday’. They represent people going about their mundane lives, whether at work, in the street or in their own homes, with this underlying notion of being watched.”

Lilli added that the London exhibition is a “great opportunity to have my work shown alongside established photographers from the UK and Austria”.

Julia Winckler, Senior Lecturer in the University of Brighton’s School of Media, was on the panel for the prize, a role she said was a “great honour”.

Julia added: “The jury received over 80 entries from across the UK and Austria responding to the brief of the ‘everyday’. It is a major achievement that Lilli was shortlisted and will be part of the exhibition. The BA Photography team is very proud of Lilli’s achievement and would like to extend our congratulations to her.”

The panel of industry experts also includes Michael Omasta (Synema, Vienna), Katy Barron (Michael Hoppen and Ben Uri Gallery), Gemma Barnett (Photographer’s Gallery), Philipp Fleischmann (Schulz Friedl Kubelka, Vienna) and representatives of Wolf Suschitzky’s family. The prize is supported by Austrian Federal Chancellery.

Villa Park, United States by Lilli Burridge Payne