Rising star over Svalbard

Back at AP’s annual awards in early 2020, we announced that Graeme Chesters had been named the first recipient of AP’s Rising Star Bursary. The bursary, arranged in partnership with leading used specialist MPB, gives amateur photographers a unique opportunity to work on a long-term project on the theme of ‘change’. Graeme receives up to £5,000 in expenses, along with mentoring and support from top pro Peter Dench and the AP team, while MPB is providing him with an ongoing photography-kit loan from its extensive supply of quality used gear.

For Graeme’s bursary project, he is documenting a year in the life of the northernmost town in the world – Longyearbyen. The town, located on the Island of Spitsbergen in the