Sixth former Molly Palmer’s ‘ultimate selfie’ featured on billboards across the south

The Arnewood School student Molly Palmer’s striking self-portrait was one of the winners in the prestigious national ‘Who Are You?’ competition run by the Arts University Bournemouth (AUB).

It challenges talented artists aged between 14 and 19 years old to come up with an innovative portrait of themselves – with the winners having their entries plastered on giant billboards near their home town.

Molly’s photo of herself wearing a mask made up of pictures of her family and friends was chosen as one of the best 16 from hundreds of entries by the judges who included world-renowned photographer Rankin and award-winning humanitarian photographer Giles Duley.

Her selfie can be seen on billboards across Christchurch, the New Forest and Southampton until May 18.

Molly, 17, from Pennington, said: “It’s amazing to see my photo on these huge billboards, it is really quite thrilling to see my work displayed.

“I wanted my portrait to be a tribute to the most important people in my life – my friends and family.

“So I made a mask containing photos of them all.”

This is the third year-running that AUB has staged the ‘Who Are You?’ competition.

It calls on artistic teenagers to answer the question ‘Who Are You?’ with a creative response that can be blown up on to billboards across the UK, creating a unique outdoor gallery that will be seen by thousands of people.

Nigel Pressnell, deputy head-teacher at The Arnewood School, said: “Everyone at The Arnewood is incredibly proud of Molly’s achievement and that her amazing talent can now be seen by hundreds of people.

“Winning a photographic competition at this prestigious level is a real success and reflective of Molly’s commitment to the Arts.”

Molly is currently studying for A-levels and the subjects she is studying are media studies, drama and theatre studies, photography and art.

She is now considering taking an art foundation degree when she leaves school.