© Brady Fullerton

We’re pleased to introduce Brady Fullerton, recipient of the Shutter Hub Emerging Photographer Award at Exposure Photography Festival 2023.

Each year the Exposure Photography Festival presents the Emerging Photographers Showcase. The exhibition celebrates the rich talent of early-career practitioners who are based in the province. The exhibition offers an important professional development opportunity for Alberta-based photographers whilst providing them a gateway into the industry. The exhibition presents a broad range of works, including photojournalism and photocollage, abstract and politically engaged photography, and works that embrace social and individual experience, as well as visual explorations of identity and personal narratives.

Brady Fullerton is a neurodivergent academic and photographer whose photographic work raises philosophical questions regarding themes of isolation, mental health, addiction, and beauty through a visual exploration of the quotidian and mundane.A Ph.D. candidate in philosophy at the University of Guelph, he has been an analog photographer since 2005. He primarily works in a photographic documentary style, preferring the ways philosophical questions are raised in art over the ways they are raised in traditional philosophy.

‘With a title like Slurry you might not be expecting to see such thoughtful and sensitive images, but here they are – soft toned moments from a hard edged industry. Brady Fullerton shows us glimpses of the magic in the mudane, there’s beauty in the everyday, you just have to look for it.’ – Karen Harvey, Creative Director, Shutter Hub

© Brady Fullerton

The images shown here were featured in Exposure Festival’s Emerging Photographer Showcase. Slurry is a project documenting the people and places Brady encountered in his years in the concrete cutting industry. These images range from the exceedingly banal and ugly to the overwhelmingly beautiful. Between these extremes are a group of people suspended in this milieu. While, on the surface, the project is an attempt to document the lives of those working in this industry, the photographs also explore concepts of fragile masculinity, a particular type of Protestant work ethic, the cost of these attitudes, and the celebration of beauty found in the quotidian.

As a philosopher, his work in photography attempts to reconcile theoretical and pragmatic concerns. Within his artistic practice, Slurry serves as an example of a body of work that touches on concerns with masculinity as it relates to mental health, addiction, and prescribed gender roles. It is also an example of work that addresses his concerns about always trying to find beauty in the mundane.

“I am so pleased to be the recipient of the 2023 Shutter Hub Emerging Photographer Award. I am thrilled to be showcased in an international community on the Shutter Hub website and even more excited to receive feedback and advice from Karen Harvey. Photography has always been a journey of self-doubt for me. I have struggled to be confident in my voice and to believe that my work deserves attention. Winning the Shutter Hub Emerging Photographer Award has served as a reminder to keep working and to keep seeking opportunities and feedback. Because of my struggles with mental health, it can be easy for me to become dissatisfied with my work and progress. This award and the opportunities it offers will motivate me through the coming months and years. I am so very grateful for this.” – Brady Fullerton

© Brady Fullerton

© Brady Fullerton

© Brady Fullerton

See Brady’s Shutter Hub portfolio here. To find out more about Brady’s work, follow him on instagram, and visit his website here.