We are delighted to bring you our June Critic's Choice by Jon Levy, founder of 8 Magazine, Foto8.com and the Host Gallery.

Jon has chosen an image from "Farewell in Labrador" by Kurt Tong and writes, "... I would like to choose Kurt Tong's "Christmas Tree" for the simple reason that like much of Kurt's work it makes me feel simultaneously uplifted and yet forlorn. Kurt has in my opinion a real complexity to his photography but disguises it in simplicity.

The christmas tree in this image is not shouting out at me to notice it, the fairy lights on the roof and the chimney are making most of the noise. But Kurt is not ignoring the tree, or making fun of its bareness, to me at least he's noticing its indomitable spirit and acknowledging its special position in prime view of the window, kept company by a small bed of purple flowers at its base.

It's a Kurt Tong image all over, harking to better times when the lights were on and the branches full and green but even now Kurt makes me feel joy in this genuine admiration for a tree."

We Recommend: Fresh Faced and Wild Eyed

This year's selection of young graduates in The Photographers' Gallery's annual Fresh Faced and Wild Eyed was perhaps a little disappointing in its inclusion of so much documentary work. With the exception of Briony Campbell's touching photo diary of the death of her father little else offered much to further our understanding or appreciation of the medium.

Graduates who stood out for using photography in a more inventive and exploratory way include Anna Linderstram, Laura Palmer, Ozant Kamaci and Dong Yoon Kim. MORE>>