Australasia’s Top Emerging Photographer 2022 revealed!

We're thrilled to finally reveal the winners and runners-up from the region’s biggest search for the very best emerging talent. Australasia's Top Emerging Photographers, presented by Fujifilm, is now in its 14th year and this year saw the competition boast its biggest panel of judges ever, with a total of 47 leading professional photographers and industry experts from across Australia and around the globe sharing their wisdom and experience to help arrive at the top entries. The entire impressive list of judges appears at the bottom of this article.

A huge congratulations to this year's overall winner, Australasia’s Top Emerging Photographer 2022, Jodi Weisz. The 19-year-old's captivating portfolio, Tension, took out the Documentary category, and then went on to win the final round of judging between the portfolio category winners in order to take out this year's top honour.

Along with the highly coveted title of Australasia’s Top Emerging Photographer 2022, Weisz takes home the grand prize, a Fujifilm X-T4 and XF18-135mm lens valued at $4,578 from our major sponsor, Fujifilm. As winner of the Documentary category, he also takes home a SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD (2TB) valued at $549 plus $1,000 cash. Check out his winning portfolio here.

Winner of the Portrait category, Andrew Rovenko was named overall runner-up for his entry, The Rocketgirl Chronicles. His prize includes a Fujifilm X100V (body only) valued at $2,349, from our major sponsor, Fujifilm, along with a category prize comprising a $1,000 Camera House Gift Card plus $1,000 cash. Congratulations also to Stephane Thomas, third place overall in this year's competition and winner of the Architecture category with his entry, Lines and Angles. In 2021, Thomas was the runner-up in the Animal category.

Only a handful of points separated the top three overall winners, indicative of just how fantastic their entries were, and also proof of how challenging the final stage of judging turned out to be for the judging panel.

Determining the results

In order to arrive at the final result and determine the category winners, runners-up, and top place-getters, a total of 700 votes were tallied. Across the nine categories, we relied on anywhere from nine to twenty judges. For the eight portfolio categories, judges were asked to rank their top five entries, while the Single Shot category saw judges rank their top ten. The overall winner, Australasia’s Top Emerging Photographer 2022, along with the overall runner-up and third place were determined following a further 123 votes from judges which were then tallied and weighted, with judges ranking their top three portfolios from a pool consisting of only the portfolio category winners.

Category winners, runners-up, and top finalists will be revealed on the Capture website later, so please keep an eye out. Alternatively, to learn all the results including the winners, runners-up, and top place-getters across the nine categories, and see their breathtaking work, check out the May/June/July edition online very soon, or track down the paper edition from your favourite newsagent in the next week or so. Entrants whose portfolio submissions were Highly Commended and Commended will be notified via e-mail later this week, along with those in the Top 10, 20, etc.

This year the total prize pool was worth over $30,000, with $21,000 in prizes, plus cash prizes of $9,000. Category winners receive a mix of cash prizes and prizes from our category sponsors. Category runners-up each receive a $200 voucher from Camera House.

Overall winner – Jodi Weisz: what the judges thought

These images do a wonderful job of capturing the craziness, hedonism, and pure joy of youth in images that are intimate and filled with emotion. Every image gives us something different to think about. For some, we’ll enjoy what they show and make us feel. For others, they will cause us to question what we may have done at that age. There are simple images that hit the viewer in the head – and maybe the gut – while there are also complex images that reward the viewer with repeated viewings.  – William Snyder

What is not to love about these images? They take the viewer on a journey with them in each shot. You are part of the heart and soul of the work; you feel the energy and the music; you taste the booze.
Photography is about transporting you to a place that tells you a story in images; no words are needed. This body of work is candid, yet intimate. It is volatile, yet calming. I love it. – Sally Brownbill

The photographer has successfully immersed themselves into these scenes and given us a close-up and personal view. I love the fact that there is no eye contact with the camera along with the attention to lighting and detail to produce a series of images that are cohesive, believable, and fun to look at. – George Apostolidis

To our supporters and sponsors

A huge thanks to major sponsor, Fujifilm, and all our category sponsors: BenQ, Camera House, EIZO, LaCie, Haida, Hnry, Seagate, SanDisk, The Brownbill Effect, and WD. Competitions like this simply aren’t possible without their incredible generosity and commitment to supporting emerging photographic talent. Thank you!

OUR JUDGES

We’re thrilled to boast the rather impressive group of top professionals and industry leaders who helped determine the winners of Australasia’s Top Emerging Photographers 2022.

2022 judging panel

Adrian Cook – www.tintypecentral.com
Alan McFetridge – www.alan-mcfetridge.com
Alex Cearns – www.houndstoothstudio.com.au
Amy Toensing – www.amytoensing.com
Anne Zahalka – zahalkaworld.com.au
Anthony McKee – www.anthonymckee.com.au
Belinda Richards – www.frogdogstudios.com.au
Chris Budgeon – www.chrisbudgeon.com
Chris Ireland – www.christopherireland.net
Chris Tovo – www.christophertovo.com
Danny Eastwood – www.dannyeastwood.com
Eolo Perfido – www.eoloperfido.com
George Apostolidis – georgeapostolidis.com.au
Hilary Wardhaugh – www.hwp.com.au
Howard Schatz – www.howardschatz.com
Hugh Peachey – www.hughpeachey.com
Isamu Sawa – www.isamusawa.com.au
John Gollings – www.gollings.com.au
John Moore – www.instagram.com/jbmoorephoto
Josh Holko – jholko.com
Karen Alsop – storyart.com.au
Ken Duncan – www.kenduncan.com
Krystle Wright – www.krystlewright.com
Lisa Maree Williams – www.lisamareewilliams.com
Lori Cicchini – www.loriana.com.au
Lynton Crabb – www.crabb.com.au
Natalie Grono –nataliegrono.com
Patrick Brown – www.patrickbrownphoto.com
Paul Hoelen – www.paulhoelen.com
Peter Brew-Bevan – www.peterbrew-bevan.com
Rankin – www.rankin.co.uk
Ricardo Da Cunha – www.ricardodacunha.com.au
Roland Halbe – www.rolandhalbe.de
Sally Brownbill – www.thebrownbilleffect.com
Samantha Everton – samanthaeverton.com
Simon Harsent – www.simonharsent.com
Steve Greenaway – www.stevegreenaway.com
Steve Winter – www.stevewinterphoto.com
Tim Booth – www.timbooth.com
Tim Griffith – www.timgriffith.com
Tim Tadder – www.timtadder.com
Toby Meagher – www.michaelreid.com.au
Tony Hewitt – www.tonyhewitt.com
Troy Goodall – www.troygoodall.com
Vincent J Musi – vincentjmusi.com
William Long – www.longshots.com.au
William Snyder – www.williamsnyderphotography.com

 

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