About
Ellie Laycock is a British artist and two-time Prix Pictet nominee whose work examines power, labour and time. Working across image, object and sound, she explores how systems of industry and politics shape landscapes and the communities bound to them.
Rooted in her working-class heritage, her practice engages with histories of resistance and economic imbalance. Through research and collaboration, it traces who holds power, who is displaced, and how resistance persists.
She has exhibited widely in the UK and internationally. Awards include first place in Architecture from the New York Center for Photographic Art and a shortlist for Portrait of Britain by the British Journal of Photography, later published by Hoxton Mini Press. Her work is held in the archives of the V&A Museum and The British Library, and in a time capsule beneath the new Lambeth Archives building.
Commissions include Low Income Displacements, a large-scale billboard for Artworks of Resistance / Save Nour, and a residency as selected artist for the Lambeth Town Hall Art Programme (Arts Council England / Lambeth / Photofusion / 3Space). Her solo exhibition 1500 Days of Gentrification at Photofusion paired photographs taken 1500 days apart to document rapid change in Brixton, London, where she lives and works.
Ellie is represented by L A Noble Gallery.
Awards:
Awarded Highly Commended ‘Glover Rayner Prize’, 2026
Nominated for the ‘Prix Pictet’ Global Award for Photography and Sustainability, 2025
Best Exhibition Award for ‘This Fractured Land’, Bucks Spark Awards, Bucks Culture, 2024
Official Selection Laurel for ‘Commotion Time’, Camden Community Film Festival, London, 2024
Shortlisted ‘Glover Raynor Prize’, 2024
Nominated for the ‘Prix Pictet’ Global Award for Photography and Sustainability, 2023
Official Selection Laurel for ‘No Man Is An Island’, Camden Community Film Festival, London, 2023
Shortlisted ‘Portrait Of Britain’, British Journal Of Photography, 2022
First place ‘Architecture’, New York Center For Photographic Art, 2021
Official Selection Laurel for ‘Brixton Minute’, Mr Vorky Film Festival, Serbia, 2021
Selected Artist, Shutterhub Bursary, 2020
Selected Artist, London Creative Network, 2016
Commissions / Residencies:
Artist Residency, Yoxford, Suffolk, 2025
‘Artworks Of Resistance’ Commission, Save Nour Public Artwork Commission, Brixton, 2021
Public Artwork 1 week residency at Jubilee School, Tulse Hill, London, 2021
‘People and Places’ Commission and Artist Residency, Photofusion/Arts Council England/Lambeth/ 3Space, 2019-2021
‘The Brixton That Wasn’t’ Artist Walk, Lambeth Heritage Festival/Photofusion, 2019
‘The Brixton That Wasn’t’ & ‘Utopia London’, Artist Event with Ellie Laycock and Tom Cordell, Photofusion, London, 2019
Solo Exhibitions:
‘Boots On The Ground’, Brockwell Hall, London, 2026
‘Boots On The Ground’, Lambeth Archives, London, 2025
‘1500 Days Of Gentrification’, Photofusion, London, 2019
‘#Regeneration’, Camden Peoples Theatre, London, 2016
Group Exhibitions:
‘Truth Or Folly’, Wycombe Museum, Bucks, 2026-2027
‘Shutterhub Open’, Art at the ARB, Cambridge University, 2026
‘The Wall’ screening at Camden Community Film Festival, 2026
‘Salon/25’, Photofusion, London, 2025-6
‘Reflections Of Brixton’, Brixton, 2025
‘Change It’, Garage Gallery, London, 2025
‘Shutterhub Open’, Art at the ARB, Cambridge University, 2025
‘The Nature Of Change’, Photofusion, London, 2024
‘Commotion Time’, Camden Community Film Festival, 2024
‘This Fractured Land’, Discover Bucks Museum, Aylesbury, 2024
‘The Tipping Point’, Bell House, Dulwich, 2024
‘Salon/24’, Photofusion, London, 2024
‘Shutterhub Open’, Cambridge University, UK, 2023/24
‘No Man Is An Island’, Camden Community Film Festival, 2023
‘Through The Lens’, Photofusion, London, 2023-24
‘Summer Exhibition’, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 2023
‘Fibre’, AIR Gallery, Manchester, 2023
‘Salon/23’, Photofusion, London, 2023
‘Yearbook’, Shutterhub, 2022
‘Evidence’, Bath Photo Festival, UK, 2022
‘Your Body Belongs To You’, Saint Gilles Croix de Vie, France, 2022
‘Postcards From Europe’, Art at the ARB, University of Cambridge, UK, 2022
‘Postcards From Great Britian’, Art at the ARB, University of Cambridge, UK, 2022
‘Salon/22’, Photofusion, London, 2022
‘Our Lands’, Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool, 2021
‘LoFi Poster Show’, Studio 73 Gallery, London, 2021
‘Community Policy’, 198 Gallery, London, 2021
‘Spectemur Agendo’, Lambeth Town Hall, London, 2021
‘Yearbook 21’, Shutterhub, London, 2021
‘Salon/21’, Photofusion, London, 2021
‘Brixton Minute’, Mr Vorky Film Festival, Serbia, 2021
‘Shutterhub Open’, St. Margaret’s House, London, 2021
‘Postcards From Great Britain’, Lion D’Or, Haarlem, Netherlands/ Bergen Op Zoom, Netherlands/ Oporto, Portugal/ Saint Gilles Croix De Vie, France/ Brussels, Belgium/ Ponte De Lima, Portugal/ Fujifilm HQ, Tilburg, Netherlands/ Calarasi, Romania/ Copenhagen Photography Festival, Denmark, 2020-2021
‘Salon/19’, Photofusion, London, 2019
‘Salon/18’, Photofusion, London, 2018
‘Salon/17’, Photofusion, London, 2017
‘Salon/16’, Photofusion, London, 2016
Publications:
‘Blue: A Photographic Investigation’, Shutterhub, 2026
‘This Fractured Land’, Leap Into The Void Press, 2024 , available here.
‘Yearbook’, Shutterhub, 2022
‘Portrait Of Britain, Vol. IV’, Hoxton Mini Press, 2022
‘Poetry’, Shutterhub, 2021
‘Spectemur Agendo’, Self Published Artist Book, 2021, available here.
Artist Talks and Events:
Saturday Session, Invited Host, Photofusion, 2025
‘Commotion Time’, Film screening at the American Association Of Geographers Annual Meeting, Detroit, USA, 2025
‘Commotion Time’, Film screening and panel talk with fellow artist Jane Peacock and author Will Burns, Real Magic Festival, Wendover, 2024
‘This Fractured Land’, Invited Artist Speaker, Discover Bucks Museum, 2024
‘Trauma Conscious Social Art Practices’, Invited Artist Speaker, hosted by Espacio Gallery & Social Art Network with Laura Noble and Ignacio Acosta, 2023
‘Your Body Belongs To You’, Symposium, Invited Artist Speaker, 2022
‘Crafting A Community Led Housing Policy’ workshops with Dr Jessica Jacobs (QMUL), Camden Community Makers and Brixton residents, 2020.
‘The Brixton That Wasn’t’, Artist Walk hosted by Photofusion and Lambeth Heritage Festival, 2019
‘The Brixton That Wasn’t and Utopia London’, Artist Talk with Ellie Laycock and Tom Cordell, hosted by Photofusion and Lambeth Heritage Festival, 2019
Featured Press:
Artists’ Tales Podcast (Interview)
The Guardian: Art and Design/ The Observer: Architectural Review
Shutterhub: Close Up (Interview)
Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool: Open Eye Stories