Informed by her own experience with migration and cultural displacement, Afshar’s work takes the intrusiveness of the camera as a point of departure to unpack the relationship among truth, power and the image while disrupting traditional image-making conventions.

Afshar’s works are held in major collections including the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, National Gallery of Victoria, the Art Gallery of South Australia, the Auckland University Art Collection, the Monash University of Modern Art Collection, the Art Gallery of New South Wales and the Art Gallery of South Australia.

Afshar’s works have been exhibited widely in Australia and abroad, in Thinking Historically in the Present, Sharjah Biennial 15, Sharjah (2023), The National 4: Australian Art Now (2023), STILL ALIVE, Aichi Triennial, Nagoya (2022); Between the Sun and the Moon, Lahore Biennale, Lahore (2020); and solo exhibition Speak the Wind, Monash Gallery of Art & PHOTO 2022 Festival of Photography, Melbourne (2022). Afshar was a recipient of The Sidney Myer Creative Fellowship in 2021. She was awarded the National Photographic Portrait Prize, National Portrait Gallery, Canberra in 2015, and the Bowness Photography Prize, Monash Gallery of Art, Melbourne in 2018. Afshar holds a PhD in Creative Arts from the Curtin University of Technology, Western Australia.

At The Photographers’ Gallery Karen has curated exhibitions including Jim Goldberg, Open See (2009); Fiona Tan, Vox Populi, London (2012); Andy Warhol, Photographs: 1976 – 1987 (2014); Lorenzo Vitturi, Dalston Anatomy (2014) and Rosângela Rennó, Río-Montevideo (2016). She has co-curated Geraldo De Barros, What Remains (2013) with Isobel Whitelegg, Made You Look, Dandyism and Black Masculinity (2016) with Ekow Eshun and Shot in Soho (2019) with Julian Rodriguez.

Karen has curated external exhibitions at The Moscow House of Photography and The National Gallery of Kosovo, and she regularly contributes to international workshops, and writes and edits for photography publications and artist's books.

Submissions for TNT 23 open on Thursday 20 April 2023 and close on Sunday 4 June 2023 at 23:59 BST.

You can only enter via our online submissions portal. We cannot accept entries by post or email.

• Online applications will be accepted between Thursday 20 April 2023 and Sunday 4 June 2023 through our submissions portal.
• It is free to enter and each photographer/artist may submit a personal statement of up to 200 words, and up to two series of work – 16 images in total.
• Each series can be represented by up to 8 images (installation images can be included, but as part of the 8).
• File formats: .jpg file size no more than 3MB per image with captions, and up to 400 words for each project description. There is an option to upload an audio version of the written text if preferred.
• If animation or moving image are part of your practice, some alternative files types at a limited size can be supported, please email tnt@tpg.org.uk with the file type you would like to use.*
• Projects must have been started in January 2021 or later, but do not have to be completed.

*Please email any queries about alternative file types, or any other queries about your submission to tnt@tpg.org.uk at least one week before the deadline so that you have plenty of time to transfer to an alternative supported file type if necessary.

We welcome submissions from any emerging UK-based photographer, collective, artist or artist duo whose practice has a focus on photography, who does not have gallery representation, or has not had a significant solo exhibition, or published a monograph by a third-party publisher.

• There is no age limit, and no need to have studied at an educational institution in the UK or elsewhere.
• Please note, in the context of this programme, ‘UK-based’ applies to those who currently live in the UK for the majority of the year (over six months).
• A ‘third party published monograph’ does not include group show catalogues, self-published zines, self-published artists’ books, small press publications or publications by artists’ collectives.
• A ‘significant solo exhibition’ is considered for the purpose of this programme to be a one-person presentation organised by a commercial gallery or publicly funded gallery.
• This does not restrict anyone who has been involved in self-initiated, artist-run or peer-organised exhibitions in non-commercial spaces from applying.

TNT 23 encourages applications from anyone who meets these criteria and whose work shows talent, originality and innovation. The Photographers’ Gallery is committed to equal opportunities and we want applicants to reflect the communities and audiences we serve. We actively encourage applications from all people, without discrimination.

TNT 23 is open to all forms of photographic / artistic practices and there is no specific theme. The guest selector brings their own expertise to the judging criteria, and the programme is seeking exceptionally talented photographers and artists working with photography. The curatorial team at The Photographers’ Gallery will select 50 from the total submissions, and the artist selector Hoda Afshar will select the final six from those 50.

Due to the large number of submissions we receive, it is not possible to respond to everyone. If you have not heard from us by 1 August 2023 please assume your application has not been successful.

Part of the TNT 23 programme includes a mentorship to help successful shortlisted artists to develop their skills, practice or career. The team at TPG will discuss with each shortlisted participant the type of specialist support they think would be beneficial to them and TPG will invite an artist/photographer or industry professional who is best suited to these needs. The mentorship will be for a 12-month period and consist of a minimum of four significant meet-ups, as well as some support and contact between these meetings.

How will the bursaries work?

A bursary of £1,500 will be offered to each of the six shortlisted artists as an award. You are free to spend the bursary entirely as you wish.

The selected artists' work will be showcased across a number of platforms:

• On a bespoke exhibition website dedicated to the programme, by the creative team behind the TNT 21 website
• On the TPG website
• On TPG’s social media platforms (including Instagram takeovers) and in the media.
• An outdoor display in the public realm delivered by our partner Jack Arts, part of BUILDHOLLYWOOD (location to be confirmed).