Earlier this month, Karen Harvey announced that Shutter Hub would begin a new chapter under the stewardship of its community, marking the organisation’s most significant evolution to date. It was also one of its most radical acts, placing the future of Shutter Hub into the hands of the people who have helped shape it over the past decade.
Since its beginnings, Shutter Hub has championed a democratic approach to photography, creating opportunities that are open, accessible, and driven by community rather than hierarchy. The creation of a Community Team is a natural continuation of those values, ensuring that the organisation’s future is informed by a diverse network of practitioners, educators, curators, editors, and creative thinkers from around the world.
Supporting this next chapter is Creative Director Gemma Marmalade, who will lead Shutter Hub into its next era alongside an expanding international Community Team. With nearly twenty years’ experience across photography, higher education, and cultural leadership, Gemma brings an established international reputation as both a photographic artist and advocate. Her work has consistently centred on widening access, encouraging critical dialogue, and building meaningful creative communities.
“Shutter Hub has already transformed countless individuals and demonstrated what photography can achieve when generosity and opportunity come first,” says Gemma Marmalade. “This isn’t about reinventing what already exists. It’s about building carefully on Karen’s remarkable legacy while opening the organisation to even more voices, perspectives and collaborations from around the world.”
Together, Gemma and the Community Team will build on the strong foundations established by founder Karen Harvey MBE, continuing to develop exhibitions, publishing, portfolio reviews, partnerships, and professional opportunities while exploring new ways to connect photographers across cultures, disciplines, and borders. Karen will remain connected to the organisation in a supportive capacity, creating space for new leadership and the Community Team to shape Shutter Hub’s future together.
The Community Team brings together an exceptional breadth of experience spanning contemporary photographic practice, visual literacy, education, curation, publishing, accessibility, editorial practice, and community development. Each member contributes a distinct perspective while sharing Shutter Hub’s commitment to collaboration, inclusion, and supporting photographers at every stage of their creative journey.
The first confirmed members of the Community Team so far are:
Justin Carey (United Kingdom) is a photographic artist and curator whose work explores the affective properties of the urban environment, the social and environmental determinants of identity, and the unseen traces that shape our relationship with place.
Dan Gaba (USA) is a photographer and photo editor at The Wall Street Journal, bringing extensive experience in editorial photography, visual storytelling, and photographic mentorship.
Francesca Hummler (Germany/USA) is a photographic artist, educator, and curator whose research-led practice explores identity, family, and belonging through photography, archives, and collaborative image making.
Rosita McKenzie (Scotland) is a pioneering blind photographic artist whose work challenges conventional ideas of vision, perception, and image making.
Marisol Mendez (Bolivia) is a photographer, researcher, and curator whose practice explores identity, memory, and representation through photography, archives, and installation.
Grant Simon Rogers (Germany) is a multidisciplinary artist, photographer, educator, and writer whose work spans photography, painting, drawing, and animation.
Vanessa Vincent (Canada) is a photographic artist whose analogue practice celebrates the quiet beauty of everyday life through mindful observation, light, and place.
The Community Team will continue to grow over the coming months, welcoming new members whose experience, knowledge, and generosity will help shape Shutter Hub’s future. Together, they represent an important step in the organisation’s ongoing commitment to shared leadership, international collaboration, and making photography more accessible to everyone.
To learn more about each member of the Community Team, visit our Community Team page and discover the people helping to shape the next chapter of Shutter Hub.
Interested in finding out more or being part of Shutter Hub’s new Community Team? Get in touch below.
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