The Jerwood Charitable Foundation, sponsors of the high-profile Jerwood Painting, Drawing and Sculpture Prizes, have created this new annual national award as a unique opportunity to identify and promote emerging and talented UK photographic artists whose work demonstrates excellence and originality and to give them a major opportunity in the early stages of their careers.

These new annual awards - organised for the first time in 2003 - are open to artists who work with the medium of photography and who have recently graduated from a visual arts degree course in the UK. The 2003 Awards attracted over 600 applications from throughout the UK, with each applicant submitting portfolios of up to ten photographic prints.

The 2003 Judges were Mark Haworth-Booth, Acting Head of Research, Victoria & Albert Museum, London; Catherine Yass, visual artist; David Chandler, Director of Photoworks; Amanda Hopkinson, writer and critic; and Gloria Chalmers, Editor of Portfolio.

The winners of the 2003 Jerwood Photography Awards are:

Veronica Bailey
Polly Braden
Edgar Martins
Danny Treacy
Naglaa Walker

Each receives a cheque for £2,000, presented at The Jerwood Space in London on 20 November 2003. A selection of their photographs, with an introduction by Mark Haworth-Booth, appears in Portfolio Issue 38. There will also be an exhibition by the five winners from 21 February to 24 April 2004.

The Jerwood Photography Awards 2004 will be announced on Portfolio's website in May 2004.