Gemma Carly Pepper works with what others have let go of. A British artist and photographer based in Zurich, she builds her practice around found photographs — pulling them back from the edge of disappearance and letting them speak to questions of identity, inherited trauma, and belonging.
Her training spans Fine Art Photography at Llandrillo College (North Wales) and the University of Derby, followed by an MA in Art Education with a focus on Curatorial Studies at Zurich University of the Arts (2021). Her work has been presented at Photo Basel, Paris Photo, Photo London, and AIPAD New York and belongs to public as well as private collections.
​
Outside the studio, Pepper's world is largely four-legged and green. She shares her life with a black Dalmatian and a deep affection for animals and the natural world — a kinship that quietly shapes the same instinct running through her art: paying attention to what's easily overlooked.
​
​
Awards and Residencies​​
2026
Honourable Mention Monovisions Award
Art Residency, Lilly Keller Foundation, Thusis, Switzerland
2025
Finalist Head On Photography Award
Nominated for Siena Creative Photography Award
Nominated for Refocus Award
Nominated for Hellerau Portrait Photography Award
2024
Honourable Mention Fine Art Photography Award
2023
Shortlisted Photoville4600 by Fujifilm Awards, Photofestival Olten
Honourable Mention Annual Photography Award
2022
Elles x Paris Photo Award
Winner Vienna International Photography Award - Free Subject
Shortlisted International Photography Award - One Shot Colour
Shortlisted Lucie Foundation, Carte Blanche - Object Category
Shortlisted Fine Art Photography Awards - Open Theme
Shortlisted Sony World Photography Organisation - Creative Category
Honourable Mention ND Awards - Special Open Theme
Until 2021
Winner Emerging Photographer Award - Feature Shoot
Shortlisted Bolton Art Prize
Shortlisted Brighton Student Art Prize
Shortlisted Neo Art Prize
Winner Community Foundation Award Derby
Winner Museum of Derby Award
​