Camberwell Camera Club member David Bignell was awarded Australian Photographic Prize Nikon Digital Award-winner in an event which has brought a fresh perspective to the Australian Photographic community. Over four days the Australian Photographic Prize saw those at the top of their fields in Professional Landscape, Portrait, Commercial and Wedding, as well as student and amateur photography come together to celebrate their creative endeavours. The event was vital to the creative community with high school students through to internationally acclaimed photographers enthusiastically entering the awards with results that indicate the recent pandemic challenges have impacted photographic image-making allowing new levels of creativity.
Hundreds of people attended the print judging and conference either in person and 5000 views across the online platforms. The Australian Photographic Prize Nikon Digital Awards celebrated the best of amateur photography with almost 600 entries. The EIZO Photographic Artist Prize had over 100 entries and celebrated photographic artistry, and the Australian Photographic Prize Epson Print awards received 700 print entries showcasing the best of the photographic industry.
As an inaugural event, Australian Photographic Prize Directors Karen Alsop and Robyn Campbell achieved higher than expected award entry numbers and although event attendance could have been stronger, given the current societal shift away from face-to-face interaction due to pandemic concerns, attendance numbers were promising for future growth. Livestream attendance was in the thousands across all events, with students from Charters Towers in Far North Queensland, through to overseas entrants from America tuning in.
“I’m elated to have won the 2022 Australian Photographic Prize,” David Bignall said. “My photo is one of a series I made during lockdown. It employs a visual metaphor to convey the message of someone who is literally washed out.
“The idea of experimenting with tissue paper emerged from thoughts about floated emulsion processing. Once I started printing on tissue I considered the possibilities of how the paper could be linked to emotions. I started to create self-portraits with torn tissue, wet tissue, crumpled tissue and so on. The fragility of tissue felt apt to describe the fragility of the mind under different pressures.”
North Queensland-based Professional Photographer Charmaine Heyer was awarded the Australian Photographic Prize Epson Print award winner.
“This image from the ‘Creative’ category started from a fashion shoot,” said Charmaine Heyer. “My intention was to morph an insect and a human to highlight our interdependence.”
To view the full winners lists for both the Nikon Digital Awards and the Epson Print Awards, visit www.australianphotographicprize.com.
