My Journey to the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2025
In August 2024, I took the first step in what turned out to be an unforgettable experience—I registered to submit work to the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. Open to all, but notoriously competitive, this exhibition has been running since 1769 and remains one of the most prestigious open-submission shows in the world.
Now in its 256th year, the Summer Exhibition brings together over 1,700 works across all media, selected by a panel of Royal Academicians and guest artists. The 2025 exhibition is coordinated by architect Farshid Moussavi OBE RA, who chose the theme ‘Dialogues’. “This year's theme invites artists to reflect on dialogue in all its forms,” Moussavi explains. “Whether across generations, cultures, disciplines, or materials, these works demonstrate how art can open conversations—between the familiar and the unfamiliar, the past and the possible.”
By February 2025, after months of thought (and no small amount of indecision), I finally made my selection. Choosing what to submit was incredibly hard. Like many photographers, I have thousands of images—each with its own story—and distilling that down to just a couple of works felt impossible. I submitted my entries and waited.
The first photograph I chose to submit is called 'Without an Electric Concern'.
The photograph was taken in the backstreets of Bhaktapur, Nepal. It captures a quiet moment outside a local electrical shop, where two men sit on small stools, each absorbed in their mobile phones. Around them, stacked goods, faded signage, and peeling woodwork offer a layered portrait of a working street scene.
The image explores the intersection of old and new. The analogue clutter of the shop contrasts with the digital focus of the men. It’s a scene filled with visual and cultural dialogue—between tradition and modern life, silence and technology.
The second photograph is titled 'Unemployed Gods' and was taken at the Park Hill Flats in Sheffield.
Park Hill Flats is one of the UK’s most iconic examples of post-war social housing and urban regeneration. The bold graffiti reading “UNEMPLOYED GODS” stops you in your tracks: a poetic, ambiguous phrase painted across a low wall in the shadow of the brutalist estate. The contrast between architecture and activism, past and present, permanence and decay.
It captures the layered conversations playing out in public space: between those who built Park Hill with utopian ambition, those who lived its decline, and those now navigating its reinvention. The graffiti becomes both message and monument—confronting the viewer with questions about belief, value, and survival in a changing city.
On 19 March, I received news that one of my photographs had been shortlisted. That alone felt like a huge achievement. My first time submitting work and one of my pieces was chosen! I was interested to find that 'Without an Electric Concern' was the one selected as I felt that 'Unemployed Gods' was more edgy and noticeable.
Then came a nervous wait until 8 May, when I delivered the physical print to the Royal Academy in London for final judging. I had my photograph framed and wrapped up for it's journey to London. I decided to limit the image to an edition of 30 prints and make all the prints available for sale.
On 30 May, I received the long awaited email to say I’d been selected to exhibit! It’s hard to put into words how that felt. Out of over 36,000 submissions, my work was chosen by selectors Vanessa Jackson RA and Sikelela Owen RA to be part of this historic show.
The official artist preview—Varnishing Day—took place on 9 June. It was a surreal and wonderful experience to walk through the galleries before the public opening, surrounded by fellow artists and works in all mediums. The preview is only two hours so hardly any time at all to take in all the artworks. I eventually found my piece in the second to last gallery - behind the Grayson Perry vase! It is hung just below eyelevel on a wall with a group of candid photographs from talented artists and I think it looks pretty good.
I have since been back to the exhibition three times with my mum, my mum-in-law, my best friend and my husband! Each time I see new pieces that I have missed on the previous visits and on the last occasion there was the coveted Little Red Dot stuck on my picture!
So that's all the boxes ticked - Entered, Shortlisted, Selected and SOLD!
The exhibition is now open to the public from 17 June to 18 August 2025 at Burlington House, Piccadilly.
'Without an Electric Concern' can be found in Gallery IX, Catalogue Number 266
My photograph is available to purchase through the RA’s online platform - click the BUY NOW button below.
Quote RAJOURNEY once I have confirmed your purchase for a 20% discount on the published price.
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