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Australian Photography Awards 2020 announces winners

Announcement posted by Australian Photography Awards 26 Nov 2020

Across 8 catergories
In what was a record breaking year for entries, the Australian Photography Awards (APA) have announced the winners of this year’s awards across all eight categories. The winners are Nicole Reed (Portrait), Tom Putt (Landscape), Christopher Hopkins (Documentary), Claudia Messenger (Student), Natalya Stone (Animal/Wildlife), Cara O’Dowd (Open/Illustrative), Pepijn Thijsse (Travel/Street) and Harper Allen (Junior – 13 and under).
 
For high res images of all the winners, their bios and their winning images go to: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1VL3hS5QGisB-dkYBvjPvVMeGwNEVG-6T
 
Australian Photography Awards (APA) co-founder Tom Goldner explained, “In 2020 we received 5,800 entries across our 8 categories making this year the biggest and most diverse celebration of Australian photography yet. APA continues to see a growth of around 30% annually across both entries and audiences. The growth in entries is only important though if we continue to operate at the best possible standard and continue to provide value for those who are involved.”
 
APA was founded in 2015 by creative collaborators Harriet Tarbuck and Tom Goldner both of whom work commercially and creatively within the photographic industry and feel passionately about fostering community engagement through the photographic arts.  
 
Tarbuck added, “APA sets out to celebrate and amplify the important work being made by Australian photographers. 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.”
 
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. 
 
He added, “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.”
 
APA’s categories are curated to allow space for all genres within photography, both traditional and contemporary. They seek original, artful and creative work across all categories - not just beautiful technical images, but more soulful photography which has an important message that reflects our current times or reminds us of important events and movements in history.
 
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. There are also publication opportunities through the APA Annual; a 76 page softcover magazine printed by Momento Pro which features the top 20 finalists from each of the eight categories. 
 
Harriet Tarbuck continued, “Winning an APA category not only gains your work invaluable exposure, but our prizes provide valuable resources in being able to continue and grow your creative practice. We also provide collaborative experience with our tribe through the promotional videos we produce, Q&As, written content and invitations to join the committee. It’s important for us to nurture the APA community and continue to give back after the prizes have been handed out.”
 
APA are doing much more than just award recognition. In 2021 they 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. 
 
Goldner said, “We see this as a fantastic opportunity to work alongside our committee and the incredible photographers we already collaborate with. 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.”
 
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. 
 
For more information on the winners of the 2020 Australian Photography Awards and the inspiration behind their winning images please see the accompanying “2020 Australian Photography Awards – Winners” document.
 
For high res images of all the winners, their bios and their winning images go to: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1VL3hS5QGisB-dkYBvjPvVMeGwNEVG-6T
 
For more information on the Australian Photography Awards go to: https://www.australianphotographyawards.com.au