The William and Winifred Bowness Photography Prize uniquely captures what is going on in contemporary photographic practice in Australia today.
In 2017 the prize became acquisitive and the cash prize awarded to the winner increased to $30,000. This year the removal of size restrictions saw large-scale works extend for metres and installations requiring an entire room to be built.

Tamara Dean, Sacred lotus (Nelumbo nucifera) in Summer, 2018, from the series ‘In our nature’, pigment ink-jet print. Courtesy the artist and Martin Browne Contemporary, Sydney
Themes and subject matter resonate with issues dominating our society and culture, and this year there were intense reactions to the politically-charged environment we live in and an exploration of the medium itself. Powerful responses include works that delve into Manus Island Detention Centre refugees, sexual abuse in the Catholic Church and Australia’s colonial history.
There is a strong resurgence in cameraless processes and also highly-constructed digital scenes with a shift from confronting and quirky portraiture, to traditional landscapes shot through a contemporary lens, through to conceptual or performative practice, and raw, unflinching documentary practice. These works explore the diversity of the Australian experience, culture and environment with explorations into Indigenous perspectives, equality and inequality, gender diversity, sexual identity, empowerment, and disability as well as geological and biological evolution.
The judging panel comprised of Dr Michael Brand, Director of Art gallery of New South Wales, artist Dr David Rosetzky and Anouska Phizacklea, Director of Monash Gallery of Art. Here are their chosen finalists:
Hoda Afshar, Robert Ashton, Sofi Basseghi, Alison Bennett, Devika Bilimoria, Tom Blachford, Aaron Bradbrook, Danica Chappell, Rowan Conroy, Michael Cook, Tamara Dean, Marian Drew, Thomas Edward, Amos Gebhardt, John Gollings, Linsey Gosper, Lee Grant, Janina Green, Ponch Hawkes, Hego, Petrina Hicks, Shelley Horan, Leah King-Smith, Katrin Koenning, Sandra Lamonaca, Mathew Lynn, Kirsten Lyttle, Isobel Markus-Dunworth, Ben McGee, Joseph McGlennon, Rod McNicol, Jacqueline Mitelman, Nasim Nasr, Polixeni Papapetrou, Matthew Portch, Clare Rae, Julie Rrap, Melissa Spiccia, Nathan Stolz, Natalya Stone, Ian Strange, Darren Sylvester, Samuel Szwarcbord, Cyrus Tang, Di Tang, Natalie Tirant, Justine Varga, James Verdon, Martin Walch, Amanda Williams and Anne Zahalka.
A finalists’ exhibition will be held at Monash Gallery of Art from 29 September to 18 November 2018 with the 2018 winner announced on Thursday 11 October 2018.