The winner of the Moran Contemporary Photographic Prize was recently announced at Juniper Hall in Paddington, Sydney. Queensland photographer, Trent Mitchell was named as the winner of the 2015 contest for his image Boy In Boat Hervey Bay QLD, and received $50,000 in prize money. Images by Chris Budgeon and Louise Whelan were Highly Commended. In 2014, Suzanne McCorkell took out the top prize for her image Time Out From Training.
Student section prizes in the Moran Contemporary Photography Prize were awarded to Darcy Barnes from Glen Innes High School, NSW (Year 11-12 category); Yianni Nisiotis from William Ruthven Secondary College in Victoria (Year 9-10 category); and Poppy Bartholomew from Queensland (Year 7-8 category).
About the prize
Established in 1988, the Doug Moran National Portrait Prize (non-photographic) is believed to be the world’s most valuable portrait prize. It invites entries of original works from Australian artists, capturing Australians from all walks of life, whether a public figure or someone from their own circle of experience.
In 2007, the Moran Arts Foundation extended its arts award program to introduce the Moran Contemporary Photographic Prize, to celebrate and promote Australian contemporary photography. The judges of this year’s Moran Contemporary Photographic Prize are Cheryl Newman the former Photography Director and contributing writer of the UK’s Telegraph Magazine, photographic historian Alan Davies, the Emeritus Curator of Photographs at the State Library of New South Wales and Deborah Hutton, the host of Event on Foxtel Arts.
The exhibition
The Moran Art Prizes exhibition showcases the works of the 30 finalists in the 2015 Doug Moran National Portrait Prize and the 30 finalists in the 2015 Moran Contemporary Photography Prize (Open section), as well as winning entries in the Student section of the Photography Prize. The exhibition is open Wednesday to Sunday, 10am - 5pm until Sunday, 14 February. The gallery will be closed Monday 21st December 2015 through to Tuesday 5th January 2016 for the Christmas/New Year period.