Upgrade Yourself Monthly: A World View
Join us for our April Upgrade Yourself Monthly, where Somerset House Studios Artist and photographer Joy Gregory, invites you to rediscover photography through light and analogue process.
For 18-30 year olds
| Dates | Wed 1 April 2026 |
| Times | 6pm - 9pm |
| Space | River Rooms New Wing |
| Price | Free |
Please note this event is for 18–30-year-olds.
Step into a space where light, material, and imagination come together. In this hands-on workshop, Joy Gregory and Lydia Dique will guide to explore photography at its most elemental through an analogue process that reveals the subtle interplay between light and surface.
While digital photography is now everywhere, the medium's core – the way material responds to light to create an image – has largely disappeared from the digital sphere, even as the language remains.
In this workshop, we will focus on materiality and analogue processes through the production of nivea prints. This session offers an opportunity to explore the principles of photography by focusing on the physical nature of both the work and its presentation. Through experimentation, we will see firsthand how photographic material reacts to light.
Please bring an object, text, or image that reflects your own historical, cultural, or geographical background. Translucent or flat items work best, allowing light to travel through and leave its mark on your print.
As always, free drinks and food provided by Butch Salads will be available throughout the evening.
✨ And here’s the bonus:
All attendees will receive tickets to Sony World Photography Award 2026, discover the best photographs from the past year and immerse yourself in a dedicated display of Joel Meyerowitz’s work. Sony World Photography Award 2026 will take place on 17th April – 4th May 2026 at Somerset House
To get involved in the session, please sign up below:
Sign up will close 10am Wednesday 18th March 2026, successful participants will be notified by Thursday 19th March
Spaces are limited, and participants will be selected at random. If you're chosen, you'll need to confirm your attendance - otherwise, your spot may be offered to someone else. Please check your spam folder!
About Joy Gregory
Joy Gregory is an award-winning artist specialising in photography, known for her exploration of identity politics and beauty culture. A graduate of Manchester Polytechnic and the Royal College of Art, she has exhibited widely in the UK and internationally, participating in numerous biennales and festivals. Her work is held in major public and private collections, including the Victoria and Albert Museum, the UK Government Art Collection, the Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane, and Yale University. Her major retrospective, Catching Flies with Honey, opened at the Whitechapel Gallery in October 2025 and was accompanied by a publication of the same name. She is the editor of Shining Lights, an anthology of Black British women’s photography from the 1980s and 1990s, published by MACK/Autograph.
About Lydia Dique
Lydia Dique (b. 1998) is a London-born artist working across photography, sculpture,printmaking, and film. She co-founded and runs Braw, a darkroom space in Brixton, London that underpins her ongoing exploration of photographic materials and print processes. Dique’s practice is rooted in questions of identity and its construction. Her ongoing research into the Anglo-Indian diaspora explores intergenerational memory, colonial legacies, and the role of the community dances. Through this lens, she investigates broader cultural narratives and the ways in which history is remembered, recorded, and reimagined.
with thanks to The Linbury Trust