The William and Winifred Bowness Photography Prize has unveiled its finalists for 2023. The panel of judges consisting of Rhana Devenport ONZM, Director of the Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, and acclaimed artist Michael Cook, alongside Anouska Phizacklea, Director of MAPh, Melbourne, have selected sixty-six artists from a pool of over 640 outstanding submissions.
Tamara Dean, Love and fertility, 2022–23, from the series ‘The suspended moment’, pigment inkjet print, 100 × 75cm. Courtesy the artist and Michael Reid Gallery, Sydney/Berlin
The selected finalists for the 2023 Bowness Photography Prize exemplify the immense depth of talent present in the contemporary Australian photographic arts scene. Their works, crafted over the past year, offer a diverse and captivating snapshot of the state of photography in Australia today.
“. . . The thematic concerns present within the works reflect pressing issues that as a society we are grappling with. What is incredibly exciting is how artists are pushing the medium of photography – whether experimenting with cameraless works to conceiving of a photograph as a sculptural form that leaps off the walls and inhabits your space. The dynamism of these works present quite an exciting prospect for curating the disparate works into a cohesive whole.” – Anouska Phizacklea, MAPh Director
Murray Fredericks, Blaze #12, Muloorina, 2022, from the series ‘Blaze’, pigment inkjet print, 135 × 300cm. Courtesy the artist and ARC ONE Gallery, Melbourne
The 2023 Bowness Photography Prize finalists are: Grace Allen, Ashe, Robert Ashton, Alison Bennett, Madeline Bishop, Tom Blachford, Jane E Brown, Jane Burton, Anna Carey, Patricia Casey, Danica Chappell, Renato Colangelo, Michael Corridore, Zo Damage, Rory Daniel, Steve Danzig, Gerwyn Davies, Mikayla DePasquale, Tamara Dean, Yask Desai, D-Mo, Rozalind Drummond, Stephen Dupont, Rhy Dyball, Robert Fielding, Murray Fredericks, Genevieve Ginty, Geoffrey Goddard, Tom Goldner, Rebecca Griffiths, Sammy Hawker, Ponch Hawkes, Shelley Horan, Nicholas Hubicki, The Huxleys, Minami Ivory, Inez Joakim, Pia Johnson, Ayman Kaake, Mark Kimber, Shea Kirk, Kelvin Lau, Janet Laurence, Putuparri Tom Lawford and Tobias Titz, Dylan Le’mon, Paula Mahoney, Jesse Marlow, Charles McKean, Danie Mellor, Kent Morris, Daniel Noone, Sonia Payes, Drew Pettifer, Izabela Pluta, Patrick Pound, Clare Rae, Yhonnie Scarce, Cassandra Scott-Finn, Jon Setter, Scotty So, Cyrus Tang, Hiromi Tango, Craig Tuffin, James Tylor, Justine Varga, and Anne Zahalka.
Minami Ivory, Counted, graded, numbered #13, 2022, from the series ‘How do I bury you if I don’t have your body: counted, graded, numbered’, pigment inkjet print, 53.3 × 42cm. Courtesy the artist
The 2023 Bowness Photography Prize finalist exhibition is on view at Museum of Australian Photography (MAPh), Melbourne, from 21 September to 12 November 2023, with the award announcement taking place on Thursday 28 September.
The overall winner will be awarded the grand prize of $30,000, and their work will be added to MAPh’s nationally significant collection of Australian photographs. One finalist will also be honoured with the $10,000 Wai Tang Commissioning Award, which will coincide with the 2024 Bowness Photography Prize exhibition season. Furthermore, the Smith & Singer People’s Choice Award will be determined by public voting, with the recipient receiving $5,000 in recognition of their outstanding contribution.
