The Bowness Photography Prize — one of Australia’s most influential and beloved photo-media awards — turns 20 this year. What began in 2006 as a $10,000 prize to promote photography as a serious art form has grown into a key part of the Australian photographic landscape. Now, as it celebrates its past and looks to the future, the prize is entering its most exciting chapter yet.
This year’s milestone comes with a groundbreaking announcement: the Bowness Prize is now the richest cash award for photography in Australia, thanks to a $1 million philanthropic gift from the Bowness Family Foundation. The prize money for 2025 has been lifted to $50,000 for the winner, with two Honourable Mentions receiving $2,500 each. But perhaps most significantly, for the first time in the prize’s history, all shortlisted artists will be paid loan fees for exhibiting their work — a rare gesture of respect for the labour behind image-making.
Founded through the vision and generosity of the Bowness family, the prize was created in partnership with the then Monash Gallery of Art (now the Museum of Australian Photography or MAPh) in Wheelers Hill, Victoria. Its mission? To offer a platform for Australian photographers working in all styles and genres — from documentary to conceptual, analogue to digital — to showcase their craft.
In the 20 years since, over 12,000 artists have submitted entries. More than 1,000 works have hung on the gallery walls as part of the annual finalists’ exhibition. Of those, 20 works have been acquired into MAPh’s permanent collection. Names like Hoda Afshar, Petrina Hicks, Amos Gebhardt, Christian Thompson, Pat Brassington, and Anne Zahalka echo through the prize’s history — artists whose work helped reshape how we think about image, identity, and contemporary life.
But while the prestige of the prize has grown, so has its role as a cultural barometer. The annual exhibition consistently offers a snapshot of the nation’s visual consciousness — sometimes intimate, sometimes provocative, always timely.
The recent gift from the Bowness Family Foundation is a game-changer. It doesn’t just raise the stakes; it secures the future. For MAPh Director Anouska Phizacklea, the impact is monumental.
“The gift from the Bowness Family Foundation is the most significant in MAPh’s history,” she says. “It will ensure the legacy of the prize, supporting generations of photographers in Australia.”
The funds will support not only increased prize money and loan fees, but also guest judge remuneration, and discounts for printing, framing and shipping through MAPh’s partners — ensuring the prize remains as accessible as it is aspirational.
The 2025 Judging Panel
This year’s judges reflect the diversity and depth of Australian photographic thinking. Shaune Lakin, Senior Curator of Photography at the National Gallery of Australia, returns to the MAPh space where he once served as director. He brings a rich curatorial eye, particularly attuned to feminist photography and underrepresented narratives.
“It’s an honour to be involved in the twentieth iteration of the Bowness Photography Prize,” Lakin says. “An award that celebrates current photographic practice and the Bowness family’s role as longstanding patrons of Australian photography.”
Joining him is 2023 Bowness Prize winner Anne Zahalka, a pioneering photo-media artist whose works dissect Australian cultural identity through humour, staging, and sharp-eyed critique. Her recent retrospective, ZAHALKAWORLD, drew significant attention and attendance and continues to tour nationally.
“I’m really looking forward to being part of the judging process,” Zahalka says. “It will be exciting to see the breadth and depth of Australian photography in what has become a groundbreaking contemporary photo-media award.”
The third judge is Anouska Phizacklea, whose curatorial direction has helped expand the museum’s influence and deepen its engagement with contemporary issues in Australian art.
Submissions Open April 17
Photographers from across the country are invited to submit their work from Thursday 17 April, with entries closing on Friday 13 June 2025. The finalists’ exhibition will run from 13 September to 9 November, with winners announced at the exhibition’s opening night on Thursday 18 September at MAPh.
It’s an open call, but not just in the logistical sense. The Bowness Prize is open in its philosophy too — welcoming work that challenges, experiments, or simply speaks from a place of authenticity. It doesn’t ask for themes or frameworks; it asks for excellence, imagination, and courage.
At a time when funding for the arts is increasingly precarious, the continued success of the Bowness Photography Prize speaks to something larger. It reflects a belief — held by artists, institutions, and philanthropists alike — that photography matters. That images shape the stories we tell about who we are. That art should be seen, respected, and rewarded.
So whether you’re a seasoned professional or a rising voice with a lens and a story, the 2025 Bowness Photography Prize is more than a chance to win. It’s a place to be seen, to belong, and to join a two-decade legacy of visual storytelling that continues to shape the national conversation.
To enter the 2025 Bowness Photography Prize or find out more:
Visit: maph.org.au/bowness-photography-prize
Entries Open: Thursday 17 April 2025
Entries Close: Friday 13 June 2025
