Established in 2006 to promote excellence in photography, the annual William and Winifred Bowness Photography Prize is an initiative of the MGA Foundation. The Bowness Photography Prize has become one of Australia’s most coveted photography prizes.
The exhibition features the shortlisted works for the 2019 William and Winifred Bowness Photography Prize. This year, 58 pieces have been selected by the judging panel: Director of Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, Chris Saines, acclaimed artist Dr Christian Thompson AO, and MGA Director, Anouska Phizacklea.
The selection of Australian artists presents a picture of Australia as a multicultural, quirky, and extraordinary place. The shortlist reveals artists’ continued fascination with exploring and pushing the boundaries of the photographic medium, embracing its capacity to explore a diversity of voices and perspectives.
Rochelle Marie Adam, Riste Andrievski, Jonathan Armstrong, Zia Atahi, Simon Aubor, Sarah Barker, Sofi Basseghi, Greg Bilton, Polly Borland, Anna Carey, Céleste Cebra, Danica Chappell, Peta Clancy, David Collins, Ross Coulter, Emilio Cresciani, Chloe Dann, Gerwyn Davies, Shoufay Derz, Jo Duck, Stephen Dupont, Cherine Fahd, James Farley, George Fetting, Robert Fielding, J Forsyth, Andrea Francolini, Jon Frank, Lee Grant, Mark Harper, Fiona Kemp, Ingvar Kenne, Katrin Koenning, Benjamin Liew, Louis Lim, Ruth Maddison, Koji Makino, Danie Mellor, Anne Moffat, Bill Moseley, Tajette O'Halloran, Sean Paris, Sonia Payes, Clare Rae, Asanka Brendon Ratnayake, Justin Ridler, Simone Rosenbauer, David Rosetzky, Jo Scicluna, Vivian Cooper Smith, Jacqui Stockdale, Nathan Stolz, Angela Tiatia, Lisa Tomasetti, James Tylor, Justine Varga, Lydia Wegner, and Adele Wilkes.
Sydney: The exhibition delves into the State Library of NSW's vast collection of two million images, showcasing 400 photos – many displayed for the first time.
Melbourne: Jill Orr’s The Promised Land Refigured is an exhibition that reworks the original project created in 2012 with new insights that have emerged in the past eleven years.
Melbourne: Environmental Futures features five artists whose work addresses how the natural world is affected by climate change and encompasses photography, sculpture and installation both within the gallery spaces and around the museum grounds.
Ballarat: Nan Goldin is an American artist whose work explores subcultures, moments of intimacy, the impacts of the HIV/AIDS and opioid epidemics on her communities, and photography as a tool for social activism.
Sydney: The Ocean Photographer of the Year Award, run by London based Oceanographic Magazine is in its 4th year and has quickly achieved recognition amongst photographers around the world.
Albury: The National Photography Prize offers a $30,000 acquisitive prize, the $5000 John and Margaret Baker Fellowship for an emerging practitioner, and further supports a number of artists through focused acquisitions.
Sydney: Photographers Harold David, Lyndal Irons, Ladstreet, Selina Ou, David Porter, Greg Semu, and Craig Walsh exhibit a diverse and varied snapshot of Penrith and western Sydney as it has changed and grown over the last sixty years.
The City Surveyor’s ‘Condemnation and Demolition Books’ is a key photographic collection held in the City Archives comprising almost 5000 photographs and associated glass plate negatives.
Ballarat: Art Gallery of Ballarat presents Lost in Palm Springs, a multidisciplinary exhibition that brings together fourteen creative minds who respond to, capture, or re-imagine the magical qualities of the landscape and the celebrated mid-century modern architecture of Palm Springs, California and across Australia.
