Aesthetica collates five of 2018’s must-see photography events, each providing a platform for the next generation of talent.

Reuben Wu is a photographer, filmmaker and music producer whose visual work is driven by the urge to explore new places as if they were unknown.

Ahead of our call for entries closing this month, we foreground a selection of visually compelling and thought-provoking photographers from 10 finalists.

Recording ephemeral housing structures and their surroundings, Antoine Bruy’s series, Scrublands, reveals an alternative way of life.

Must-see exhibitions running 11-12 August push the boundaries of art by questioning media imagery and using drones to replicate nature.

We select five practitioners from previous editions of the Aesthetica Art Prize who engage with new technology and digital culture.

Paul Graham’s The Whiteness of the Whale  reveals class divisions in the US through a thoughtful approach to photography.

Daniel Boudinet’s body of work traverses the nocturnal city, revealing a sense of mystery and surrealism in the urban landscape.

NMWA’s Heavy Metal looks to the physical and expressive possibilities of metalwork, disrupting predominantly masculine preconceptions.

Aesthetica’s selection of US exhibitions open this season investigates timely themes of surveillance, unseen sites and voyeuristic city scenes.

How To See [What Isn’t There] is a group exhibition at Langen Foundation comprising 32 artists from the Burger Collection, exploring profound territories.

We speak with Sydney-based Harriet Moutsopoulos, a collage artist working under the name Lexicon Love; she seeks out the unexpected connections between humour and tragedy.

Helping to shape an understanding of the interwar years in the US, Dorothea Lange’s deeply human images of urban situations are strikingly poignant.

Photographer Francesca Woodman considered Italy her second home. A new exhibition considers the country’s profound influence.

Aesthetica Art Prize alumnus Jasmina Cibic continues to untangle the complex relationships between art, gender and state authority.

American artist Matthew Adam Ross, based in Los Angeles and New York, considers his practice to be a line of enquiry. We speak with him to find out more.

Minimal fashion brand COS announces the opening of a new London store and creative centre at Kings Cross, offering a new retail model.

A collection of Olafur Eliasson’s immersive, environmentally responsive works are on display at Red Brick Art Museum, Beijing.

On display at Helmond Museum, a series of 90 large-scale colour photographs by Carl de Keyzer offer rare insights into life in North Korea.

Evoking a sense of silence, the photography of Trine Søndergaard explores both physical and personal interior spaces. 

For over four decades, Jenny Holzer’s impulse has been to investigate the authority of language. Tate Modern celebrate the poignancy of this intent.

Featuring work by Edmund Clark, In The Still of the Night at Fotohof, Salzburg, examines public and private worlds through photography.

Aesthetica highlights five key art events opening in 2018, offering unique platforms for discovery, conversation and collaboration.

Andrea Clarke is wholly interested in the spaces that surround us, questioning the confines that they offer and the anonymity attached to home.

Be inspired by our selection of painters from previous editions of the Art Prize; form, line and colour push the boundaries of the medium.

Tony Vaccaro’s body of work, celebrated in a show at Getty Images Gallery, offers an all-encompassing view of life in the 20th century.  

Artworks featured in the Aesthetica Art Prize reflect the world around us. These finalists engage with timely socio-political issues.

Moving into August, this week’s top exhibitions reflect upon life in cities around the world through bold photography and installation.

Tapping into innovation, RA explores 16 key projects by the prolific architect Renzo Piano, who is known for an inventive practice.

Technology is the signifier of our times, with people checking smartphones every 12 minutes. The 2018 Aesthetica Art Prize responds to this.

A photography show at Museum Ludwig, Cologne, questions the boundaries between fine art and documentary genres.

Curated by the Michael Reid Gallery in Berlin, the Australian Embassy in Paris showcases 22 leading figures in contemporary photography.

Unseen Amsterdam highlights the latest developments in fine art photography. Aesthetica collates a list of 2018’s must-see artists.

Emerging brands Gayeon Lee and Matter Matters address the rising levels of consumption with bespoke garments inspired by wider culture.

Influenced by humanity’s fascination with the nature of the everyday, Romain Veillon’s photographs inhabit a world of testimony and nostalgia.

Sisters Sally Ann and Emily May Gunawan return to Aesthetica with a shoot inspired by the Australian landscape and Pacific Ocean.

Considering the broad scale of materials available today,  a collection of innovative projects delves into the wider potential of 21st century production.

Continuing an ongoing support of emerging talent, Next Generation is an annual collaboration with LCC that celebrates the work of graduates.

Computer-aided designs break the material-making mould, steering the creation of increasingly responsible, adaptable and sustainable architecture.

Kevin Krautgartner’s works focus on geometric elements from the evolving landscape, revelling in bold structures set against an immaculate skyline.

Using patterns and data from intelligent surveillance systems, Esther Hovers’ images have been crafted around the detection of criminal behaviour.

Brooke DiDonato creates rich, palpable images that document a new kind of reality – taking figures from the realms of the everyday into a state of flux.

Photographs of the country’s interior and exterior structures provide thought-provoking insights into a society built upon fairyland aesthetics.

James Casebere devises table-top models, creating thought-provoking and visually deceptive images that have accrued international acclaim.

The August / September edition, Global Initiatives, looks at sustainable ways of living across range of disciplines, documenting the human story.

La Fondation Louis Vuitton pulls together art from across the globe to highlight connections between human beings and the planet.

Vogue Like A Painting at GL Strand, Copenhagen, establishes visual and thematic links between fashion photography and fine art.

We live in a world that’s increasingly edited, cropped and filtered. Royal College of Art’s Nicola Koller, Matteo Mastandrea and Thomas Greenall discuss.

Alfred Seiland’s body of work offers a bright synthesis of colour and light, combining  analog techniques with contemporary aesthetics.

An exhibition at Ibasho Gallery celebrates the work of contemporary Japanese photographers, reflecting on the fast pace of everyday life.