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Crossings

Crossings

by Laura Pannack

$60.00
$60.00
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Pre-order. Expected November 2026.

In South Africa, a country with one of the world’s highest levels of social inequality and a rapidly growing youth population, the daily journey to and from school can carry significant physical and psychological challenges for many young people.

The project, which evolved from 2023-2026, explores the complex environments they navigate—spaces where vulnerability, danger, friendship and freedom coexist. The resulting book is also dynamic and playful, bringing together analogue photography and a range of processes to examine and explore the formative experience of adolescence, and the ways in which place, relationships and memory shape who we become.

Laura Pannack has been named the recipient of the inaugural (2025) Tom Stoddart Award for Excellence.

More about this book

Following an initial residency with A4 Arts Foundation in 2023, Pannack began working with local youth clubs, schools and NGOs across the Cape Flats in Cape Town. Through workshops using lo-fi analogue photography, painting and creative writing, she created an accessible space for young people to reflect on their experiences and their journeys through and with their communities each day. The images made in collaboration with the young people also form an important part of the book. 

Making our way home from school is a simple, nostalgic, universal activity. This daily commute has its own set of challenges in South Africa—a country with the greatest social divide. This daily ritual is a crossing, a tightrope walk through streets where invisible lines divide safety from danger, past from future, life from death. Through drawing, photography, collage, and cyanotypes. Cameras change hands, and perspectives shift; new truths are unveiled.—Laura Pannack 

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London-based visual artist and photographer Laura Pannack has been named the recipient of the inaugural (2025) Tom Stoddart Award for Excellence.

Founded to honour the legacy of the late legendary British photojournalist Tom Stoddart, the Tom Stoddart Award for Excellence award recognizes photographers demonstrating exceptional commitment to human-centric, long-form documentary work. Pannack was selected from 184 submissions across 47 countries by a distinguished jury that included Jon Jones (former Head of Photography at The Observer) and Stuart Smith (Publisher, GOST Books).

Laura Pannack’s visits were supported by Lauren Theuniessen and the volunteers and staff at Project Hope, Where Rainbows Meet, Lavender Hill High School and New World Foundation. 

Published November 2026
240 x 300 mm
120 pages, 81 images
Hardback clothbound
ISBN 978-1-80598-062-9

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From the author

  • Laura Pannack (b. 1985, London) is an award-winning visual artist working with analog photography, print, collage, and experimental techniques. Her practice is rooted in long-form social inquiry, exploring the relational space between artist and sitter as an evolving, shared encounter.

    Educated at Central Saint Martins, London College of Communication, and the University of Brighton, Pannack frequently collaborates with young people, integrating psychological and participatory methods to prioritize trust, duration, and lived experience.

    Her work has been exhibited and published globally, including at major London institutions such as the National Portrait Gallery, Houses of Parliament, Somerset House, and the Royal Festival Hall. She is the author of 'Youth Without Age, Life Without Death' (Guest Editions).

  • 'Making our way home from school is a simple, nostalgic, universal activity. This daily commute has its own set of challenges in South Africa- a country with the greatest social divide. This daily ritual is a crossing, a tightrope walk through streets where invisible lines divide safety from danger, past from future, life from death. Through drawing, photography, collage, and cyanotypes. Cameras change hands, and perspectives shift; new truths are unveiled.'

    - Laura Pannack