Momento Pro wins ‘Best of Show’ at world's most prestigious print competition
Sydney-based photobook printers, Momento Pro has recently taken out the graphic arts industry’s highest honour, winning the 2019 Premier Print Awards James H. Mayes Jr. Memorial ‘Best of Show’ prize, for a collector’s edition art book, Middlehurst | Middle Earth, by Australian landscape photographer, Peter Eastway.
Considered the Academy Awards of the print world, this year the Premier Print Awards celebrated their 71st edition. In 2019, there were 2,238 from 13 countries submitted for the Premier Print Awards – the world's most prestigious international print competition. Michael Makin, President and CEO of Printing Industries of America, stated, “The Benny winners represent the best our industry has to offer”. To be recognised on the international stage in a forum such as this is a truly impressive achievement.
In June, Momento Pro was notified that the book had won the 2019 Best of Category for Art Books (4 or more colours), representing the most outstanding coffee-table book devoted to the reproduction of art, photography, or artistic collections. The judges stated that, "Each spread is a visual feast for the senses. In the toughest category, this is numero uno. Extraordinary colour!"
Geoff Hunt, Momento Pro co-founder, said that, “Winning the ‘Best of Show’ is humbling recognition of our 15-year focus on quality not quantity, for all our products, and for all our customers – consumers, professionals, photographers, artists, and corporates”. He went on to say that Momento Pro will continue to help Antipodeans preserve their artwork and memories in world-class quality prints, “and prove that printing photographs is far from dead.”
Since the establishment of the print-on-demand photo book service in 2004, Momento Pro has won 100 print awards, and the respect of the local photography and print industry for their community support, including: establishing the first photo book awards in Australia and New Zealand; co-founding the first photo book festivals in Australia and New Zealand; contributing to the preservation of 52 antipodean photo books in the Tate (UK); supporting the launch of hundreds of self-published books; and establishing programs to assist students and camera club members.
About the winning entry
The self-published limited-edition book is 42 x 42 cm inkjet printed, and features Eastway’s images of New Zealand’s landscape – all captured on a 100-megapixel Phase One camera with Schneider and Rodenstock lenses.
Handcrafted from the highest quality materials with the longest lifespan available, Middlehurst | Middle Earth was printed on 100% cotton rag using Epson Ultrachrome archival inks, with colour profiles created by international colour expert, Les Walkling.
In 2016, Momento Pro won the Art Books (4 or more colours) category for the Ken Duncan Portfolio Collection which relied on the same key ingredients in the process and production of the book.
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