Take a look at this year’s winners of the Australian Photography Awards (APA) and judge for yourself what pictures you love the most.
Nicole Reed won best Portrait with the image below, Tom Putt won best Landscape, Christopher Hopkins took out the prize for best Documentary, Claudia Messenger won best Student, Natalya Stone took out the prize for best Animal/Wildlife, Cara O’Dowd was awarded the top Open/Illustrative prize, Pepijn Thijsse received the award for best Travel/Street and Harper Allen won best Junior – 13 and under.
In 2020, APA received 5,800 entries across eight categories making this year the biggest year for entries yet.
Broken River by Tom Putt – the winner in the Landscape category
APA was founded in 2015 by creative collaborators Harriet Tarbuck and Tom Goldner to help support and foster community engagement through the photographic arts. “APA sets out to celebrate and amplify the important work being made by Australian photographers,” said Harriet.
“Since our first campaign in 2016, APA has grown to become one of the largest and most celebrated photographic awards in Australia – continually pushing the boundaries of creativity, diversity, originality and inclusiveness.”
Harriet Tarbuck
APA seek to celebrate the quiet, personal and often unseen moments which make up our lives. According to Goldner they are immensely proud of their history in discovering emerging talent and they pride themselves on making photography accessible regardless of experience or status.
“We love seeing original work which excels in storytelling, that is artful and creative and allows us to see the world from a new perspective. Diversity is paramount to our ethos, this can be found in the work we celebrate but also throughout our committee, internal team and our sponsors.”
Tom Goldner
Along with cash prizes APA also offer award winners camera and lighting kits from their sponsors Nikon Australia, Fujifilm Australia and Kayell. They also offer vouchers from Momento Pro so entrants are able to self-publish their projects into photo books.
Invasion by Natalya Stone – the winner in the Animal/Wildlife category
In 2021 APA will be reforming their organisation into the Australian Photographic Collective (APC) with the aim for APC to become the source of creativity for Australian photography. Along with the work they already do in award recognition and producing biannual publications, they will be extending an exciting educational program designed for both emerging artists and practicing professionals.
“We see this as a fantastic opportunity to work alongside our committee and the incredible photographers we already collaborate with,” said Goldner. “The educational program will include portfolio reviews and mentorship programs designed to help photographers find meaning in their work and fully develop their ideas. We will also be launching a creative directory for photographic projects and photographers. Lastly, though APC we will be partnering with organisations, festivals and institutions across Australia as a reputable resource for photographers to find valuable opportunities beyond our operation.”
We are Women by Cara O’Dowd – the winner in the Open/Illustrative category
Tom Goldner and Harriet Tarbuck are also the co-founders of Stories.Launched in 2020, Stories is a new initiative designed to celebrate long-form photographic narratives and sets out to discover, promote and amplify the important work being made by Australian photographers.
Tom Goldner explained, “In Stories we call for series based work and photo essays exploring traditional, artful and new modes of storytelling. Three winners receive features in the APC Stories Journal along with 30 shortlisted Stories. Along with the publication opportunities, winners will receive cash, camera kits from Nikon Australia and vouchers from Momento Pro.”
Stories 2021 will be launching on 1 March 2021.
Picture credits
Smile by Nicole Reed – the winner in the Portrait category
Broken River by Tom Putt – the winner in the Landscape category
I want to hold her hand by Christopher Hopkins – the winner in the Documentary category
Quarantined for a Dream by Claudia Messenger – the winner in the Student category
Invasion by Natalya Stone – the winner in the Animal/Wildlife category
We are Women by Cara O’Dowd – the winner in the Open/Illustrative category
In the Cloud by Pepijn Thijsse – the winner in the Travel/Street category
Surrender to the Calming Waters by Harper Allen – the winner in the Junior, under 13 category
For more information on the Australian Photography Awards go to: https://www.australianphotographyawards.com.au