Photography alumnus on winning Getty Images Young Photographer of the Year and working at Wimbledon
30 July 2026
Just one year after graduating, Benj Gilbert has won Getty Images Young Photographer of the Year at the UK Picture Editors’ Guild, spent the summer capturing editorial content in action at Wimbledon and has worked under sports photographer Bob Martin, editing work for both sporting and commercial clients.
Describing his win at the Picture Editors’ Guild as “unbelievable” and “seriously unexpected”, the BA(Hons) Documentary & Editorial Photography alumnus was particularly proud of the fact three of the photos he submitted came directly from his work on his course.
“My set of images were predominantly taken at various sporting events around the UK, with one taken at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo,” Benj shared. “My image of Armand Duplantis celebrating breaking the pole vault world record is one of my favourites; it was taken moments after he broke his own record and was surrounded by almost every photographer in the arena. My brief that evening was separate to the pole vault event taking place, but I just happened to be in the right place at the right time to see the beautiful chaos proceed beneath me.
“Another image with a story that will always stick with me was taken at Old Trafford in Manchester during Soccer Aid for Unicef 2025. As the player coaches arrived, our team were searching for different angles from the ground. I then arranged with the Greater Manchester Fire Brigade to go up the fire engine’s ladder with a fire fighter and (safely and harnessed in) ended up taking the image.”
Since leaving Falmouth, Benj has worked under award-winning sports photographer, Bob Martin. “Bob has helped me an incredible amount, and I’ve been doing a lot of editing work for a wide range of clients.” Alongside his work with Bob, Benj has been shooting mainly football, cricket and rugby at different venues. “It’s only been a year since graduation, but I have loved every moment and feel extremely grateful to wake up every day and call what I do work.”
Benj has just completed his third Wimbledon Championships, a role that has seen him both assisting with the set up and rigging of remote robotic cameras around the grounds and working as a photographer on multiple different courts. “I feel very lucky to come back and work at this event. With its high levels of tradition and history, it’s an event like no other,” Benj told us. “Setting up and installing cameras takes a lot of planning, precision and safety measures, but the results are amazing and assist in delivering a high level of content to the client.
“In my first year of working at Wimbledon I was working under Sarah Frandsen in the photo library assistant role, which many other Falmouth alumni have worked as. Since then, I’ve got to know the photo team at Wimbledon and had the opportunity to work as a photographer and editor at the Championships.”
“At Falmouth, I learnt from an incredible team of lecturers who supported and allowed me to be in the position I am now,” Benj added, when asked how his time at university helped give his career a boost. “It wasn’t just the lifestyle I loved – such as being close to the coast and ocean – but the friendships I made along the way and the connections I made within the industry. For me, being at Falmouth was amazing.”
External links
You might also like
Online Photography alumna on founding film and photo festival
Online Film & TV graduate films Antarctic extremes on “impossible” trip
Online Film graduates see their student projects screened at Cornish cinema
Professional Writing graduate wins tourism awards for Falmouth tours
