Photography student wins bespoke internship with lockdown photo

BA (Hons) Digital Photography student Ivana Havlikova has been named as the winner of the ‘Beyond Us’ photography competition, a project that set out to create a collective portrait of the nation during the lockdown. Ivana has won a bespoke photography internship that she’ll complete in the summer.

The ‘Beyond Us’ competition was launched in March as a collaboration between Ravensbourne and the creative agency Above+Beyond. Students were challenged to ‘give a window’ into their worlds in just five photographs, and explain the story behind them.

An expert industry panel has selected the best entries which will be published on the official ‘Beyond Us’ Instagram feed, as part of an online exhibition called ‘The Pandemic Through Your Eyes’. The first of the pictures are already available to view, with more published on a daily basis.

The photographs paint a fascinating, relatable and touching picture of people’s lives as they – and the whole world – grapple with the impact of Covid-19. Ivana’s winning photo depicts her sister and niece cuddling each other through the frame of a video call, encapsulating a poignant feeling that many can relate to during the pandemic.

As the overall winner, she will take part in an internship this summer at Above+Beyond, which will be tailored to suit her career ambitions. This could take the form of shadowing a professional photographer or supporting work for one of the agency’s clients, which include Subway and Walgreens Boots Alliance beauty brands. 

The expert judging panel including Above+Beyond’s Executive Creative Director Dom Goldman, its Delivery Lead Maddy Macrae and Picture Editor/Creative Consultant Marian Paterson.

Reacting to her win, Ivana said: “I did not believe that I won when they announced the winner, there was so much talent to choose from. I feel so grateful for this opportunity and I cannot wait for the internship to start. It’s great that we are able to have opportunities like this thanks to Ravensbourne.”

Zaid Al-Zaidy, CEO of Above+Beyond and member of Ravensbourne’s Board of Governors, said: “Our aim for the partnership with Ravensbourne and our ‘Beyond Us’ platform is to help democratise the ad industry by increasing the inclusion of talent from groups who are currently underrepresented, as well as shining a light on real audience perspectives beyond the ad-land echo chamber.

“We’ve been hugely impressed by the quality of entries and talent on display in our first project together. The students have all risen to the challenge brilliantly, in turn inspiring and confronting us with their portraits of real lives and communities during the pandemic. 

“So, congratulations and thank you to all involved.  And of course, we can’t wait to welcome Ivana to her summer internship with us soon.”