The 2011 Student Focus judges are:

Deborah Willis, US

Named among the 100 Most Important People in Photography by American Photography Magazine, Dr. Deborah Willis, active Chair and Professor of Photography and Imaging at Tisch School of the Arts, New York University, is deemed as one of the nation's leading historians of African American photography and curator of African American culture.

Notable projects such as Reflections in Black: A History of Black Photographers - 1840 to the Present, A Small Nation of People: W.E.B. DuBois and African American Portraits of Progress, and The Black Female Body in Photography, have earned her the 2005 Guggenheim and Fletcher Fellow, the 2000 MacArthur Fellow, and 1996 Recipient of the Anonymous Was a Woman Foundation Award.

Her most recent works of Michelle Obama, The First Lady in Photographs, garnered Dr. Willis a 2010 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work – Biography/Autobiography, and The Society for Photographic Education's National Conference's Honored Educator Award in 2010.

Eder Chiodetto, Brazil

Originally indentified as an independent curator of photography and video, journalist, photographer and photography critic, Eder Chiodetto is currently the curator of photography of the Museum of Modern Art of São Paulo - MAM-SP. As curator, he has put together significant exhibitions such as “Look and Simulate - Photos Collection Auer (MAM-SP), “Henri Cartier-Bresson: Photographer” (SESC Pinheiros) and “The Invention of the World - Collection of the Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris” (Itaú Cultural).

In 2009, Chiodetto was elected Best Brazilian Curator of Photography in 2008/2009 by the Brazilian magazine Fotosite/Clix.

Roger Tooth, UK

With a degree in photography from the Polytechnic of Central London Roger Tooth began as a freelancer for various papers and magazines. Tooth’s official career began in 1988 as the Assistant Picture Editor at the Guardian. His active involvement in all aspects of the paper including the early days of the website, has led Tooth to become the Head of Photography of the Guardian, the Observer and guardian.co.uk in 2008.

In 2009, Tooth was awarded the prestigious Fenton medal by the Royal Photographic Society for his outstanding contribution to photography.

Simon Norfolk, UK

Simon Norfolk was born in 1963 in Lagos, Nigeria. He studied Geography at Oxford University and Philosophy at Bristol and attended the legendary Documentary Photography course in Newport in South Wales. After an early career as a photojournalist for left-wing publications and latterly for Sunday magazines in the UK, he now lives and works overlooking the sea in Brighton on the south coast of England.

His work has been very widely recognised: he has won Le Prix Dialogue at Les Rencontres d'Arles in 2005; The Infinity Prize from The International Center of Photography in 2004; the Foreign Press Club of America award in 2003: and he was winner of the European Publishing Award, 2002. In 2003 he was shortlisted for the Citibank Prize now known as the Deutsche Böurse Prize. In 2010 he was granted a bursary from the Magnum Emergency Fund.

Shizuka Yokomizo, Japanese born, UK based

Shizuka Yokomizo was born in Tokyo and lives and works in London. After studying philosophy at Chuo University, Japan, Shizuka Yokomizo went on to complete a B.A. at Chelsea College of Art and Design, London and an M.F.A. from Goldsmith’s College, London.

Most well known for her portrait series Strangers, Yokomizo ‘s photographs have been exhibited at Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Rome; Spacex Gallery, Exeter, UK; The San Diego Museum of Art; and Wako Works of Art, Tokyo; as well as other venues in Europe, the United States, and Japan.