Winners of the 2008 Head On Portrait Prize were announced tonight at the Australian Centre for Photography in Paddington to a record crowd of over 1000 people.
The show was officially opened by the Mayor of Sydney, Clover Moore who presented the prizes to the 3 (equal) winners, Brendan Esposito for his image ‘Sweet Dreams’, Richard Kendall for his image ‘Leonard & William at Alfred Hospital’ and Tobias Titz for his image ‘Ginger Bob’. The ‘Critic’s Choice’ went to Montalbetti & Campbell for their image ‘Hazel & Ken Kelly’.
The winners of the competition received prizes with a total value of $32000 from Canon, Adobe, SanDisk, ACDSee, Focal Press and Dragon Image.
Head On, now in its fifth year, is regarded by the arts community and reviewers as the most critically important photographic portrait prize in the country. It represents a vibrant, diverse cross-section of new and traditional photographic practices, showcasing work by emerging and established practitioners alike. Images selected include diverse two-dimensional photomedia from digital to darkroom and the documentary to the staged. The show includes 42 finalists who were selected out of 2400 submissions by multi award winning photographer Stephen Dupont, Byron McMahon Gallery director Sandra Byron and Head On founder and curator Moshe Rosenzveig. The ‘Critic’s Choice’ was selected by the Sydney Morning Herald photography critic Robert McFarlane.
The show includes further 130 images presented electronically as a slide show selected out of the huge number of images submitted to the competition.
“Selection of images for Head On was and will continue to be based on the power of the photograph rather than the celebrity of either the sitter or photographer” says Moshe Rosenzveig Head On founder and curator.
Head On is supported by Canon Australia, Adobe, SanDisk, ACDSee Systems, Australian Centre for Photography, New England Wines, Gizmo Video, Blanket Magazine, Into the Blue, Frankel Lawyers, Dragon Image, Orient Capital, Focal Press, Emailbrain, Momento, Studio Migo and Gekko Images.
Show dates: 1 May – 7 June at the Australian Centre for Photography, 257 Oxford Street, Paddington (Sydney) Vivid Photography Festival, Canberra, 9 – 22 July at M16 Artspace, 16 Mildura Street, Fyshwick (Canberra)