An alumna of Anglia Ruskin University, Dr Supanee Gazeley, has set up a £2,000 annual prize to encourage art students to excel in their chosen field. Now in its second year, the Dr Supanee Gazeley Prize Fine Art Prize is an award to support and encourage Fine Art students in developing their work. It gives the opportunity for public recognition and celebration of the work of the student judged to have produced the best body of work displayed at the Degree Show.

This year the award was presented to Marina Velez Vago by Chris Elliott of the Cambridge Evening News. Her work was a series of three photographs titled 'Strowis With Child', 'Strowis Motherhood' and 'Strowis Separation'.

Marina told us: "I am delighted to receive this prize in recognition of my work. This series of photographs was shot in the same setting of a hostel in the Netherlands over several years. More remarkably, these photographs were taken over a period which almost coincides with the three years of my Fine Art degree course.

"As a watchful witness I have been able to document my daughter's life from becoming an adult, through her pregnancy, motherhood and divorce. The proximity of the subject and the photographer creates an atmosphere where we are reminded of blood ties through the link between the camera and the person in the image.

"These sessions allowed me to learn a great deal about framing, composition and the dialogue created between the person being photographed and the one who takes the photographs. The framing, the colours, the depth and generally speaking the whole composition of these pictures are reminiscent of the great masters, as they borrow the language of classical paintings. The fact that these images are digital make them contemporary. However, the topics that these images touch, the passing of time and human development, make them universal."

Professor Derrik Ferney, Pro Vice Chancellor and Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Law and Social Sciences, said, "The judges all agreed that Marina's brilliant piece merited the award. As the remit of the Dr Supanee Gazeley Prize is to help a developing artist in his or her early career, we hope this award encourages Marina to develop her work as an artist and progress onto a Master of Fine Art course."

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