Work exploring sustainable hobbies, regeneration and mental health care praised by industry judges

Three fashion graduates from Manchester Met’s Manchester Fashion Institute have won top prizes for their projects exploring sustainable hobbies, regeneration, and mental health care at the Creative Conscience Awards.

Sydney Hatton, Catalina Rivera, and Lola Wood, who all recently graduated from BA (Hons) Fashion Art Direction, won awards in the film and photography category.

The Creative Conscience Awards celebrate projects exploring sustainability or demonstrating a positive social impact.  

Rivera received the gold award for Beyond the Game, a photography project documenting the work of Burgess Sport, a charity working with residents of the Aylesbury estate in London – notorious in the media for being one of Europe’s largest housing complexes – where she has volunteered for the past few years.

Her images capture the work of Burgess Sport and Aylesbury’s youth community, from sports programmes to families taking part in boxing and arts and crafts workshops, in an effort to move away from the negative representation of the housing estate and instead highlighting the power of community engagement and the transformative impact of sport.

Rivera said: “I’m honoured to have received gold for my Beyond the Game project. I’m deeply passionate about the incredible work that Burgess Sport does with the Aylesbury Estate, and I’m continually inspired by their close-knit community. I look forward to continuing to document their stories and showcasing the positive impact they have on those around them.”

Wood received the bronze award for It’s a Walk in the Park, a series of five photography shoots focused on slow, sustainable hobbies and practices which advocates the importance of slowing down from the busy pace of modern day life by reassessing and reconnecting with the natural world.  

Wood said: “I feel incredibly grateful to have been awarded a bronze award for It’s a Walk in the Park, which I created as part of my Final Major Project. I hold my final project very close to my heart, and with Creative Conscience being such an inspiring, progressive platform, it’s a real honour for my work to have been selected by the judges. I will be proudly framing my certificate!”

Hatton was highly commended for her project Ebbs and Flows which explores the non-linear process of healing. She advocates for photography being used as a therapeutic tool to aid with the healing process particularly for those with mental health illness, rooted in trauma.

Hatton said: “I am very pleased to have been Highly Commended for my project Ebbs and Flows at the Creative Conscious Awards. It was a very personal project to compose and communicate and I’m looking forward to continue to explore ways in which photography can be used as a therapeutic instrument to aid in mental health care.”

A panel of industry experts selected the winners based on their creative approaches and the impact of their projects.

Wood, Rivera, and Hatton will benefit from mentoring and support from Creative Conscience in taking forward their ideas, alongside joining the Creative Conscience Community, and seeing their winning projects displayed on the Creative Conscience website.

Lesley Raven, Senior Lecturer in Fashion Art Direction at Manchester Fashion Institute, said: “The success of our graduates winning the Creative Conscience awards is a fantastic achievement. Each of them focused on different aspects of sustainability, demonstrating the breadth and impact of this movement within fashion and our daily lives, and the need for provocative imagery to communicate key messages with impact.

“Each has shown creativity and social conscience, from Lola’s work that is sensitive to the need to slow down and be aware of the natural environment, Cata’s passion for regeneration within a rundown housing estate, while capturing the lived experiences of the existing community living in these shared spaces, to Sydney’s care and sensitivity towards positive mental health and fluctuating emotions.

“As the module leader supporting these students, alongside the rest of the team, we are proud that they have embraced the challenge of addressing critical global issues through their work and that their efforts have been recognised with prestigious awards.”

Creative Conscience are a creative community and global not-for-profit organisation who believe that creative thinking and innovation can make positive change.