Portrait Prize presents opportunity

ONE of Australia’s leading portrait photography events has opened submissions for its annual Geelong Photography Portrait Prize.

Run by Liminal Gallery and Lab in Geelong, the competition showcases portraits from professional and emerging photographers from across the nation.

Now in its second year, the Portrait Prize was introduced as a way of giving photographers an opportunity to exhibit and be recognised for their work.

Corey Notaristefano was one of the original founders of Liminal Gallery, previously Hue and Cry, and in 2023 took over the ownership and running of the space with his wife Harriet Notaristefano.

The founder, a photographer from a young age, has a strong passion for the medium and growing up was unaware of the opportunities to exhibit his work, a driving reason for the coming event.

“For me, it’s about creating opportunities for fellow photographers, especially within the Geelong region, there’s not many awards or opportunities to exhibit,” he said.

“A lot of photographers would need to go to Melbourne or interstate for photography awards, so we really wanted to provide an opportunity for Geelong artists specifically, but also artists from around Australia, to be able to exhibit and be seen by some really well respected and renowned judges.”

As part of creating opportunity, the gallery is committed to showing every eligible work entered into the competition, including them in the exhibition.

“It’s really important that if people are paying to enter a show that their work is going to be seen,” Corey said.

“A lot of awards and prizes, you pay an admin fee but you might now necessarily be exhibited or shown, we really want to be able to champions people.”

Along with showing all works entered and committed to promoting and developing photography and visual arts, the gallery also wants to showcase the works of all skill levels, ensuring they have the same opportunities to be seen.

“It’s a great opportunity for people that are just getting into portrait photography to be able to show what they can do and to be able to be seen for what they’ve created,” Corey said.

“We’re not about being elitist or just showing the top 50, we really want people that if they’re engaging with us at the gallery and within the photographic scene, they’re given those opportunities and that they’re rewarded by being seen by the judges and general public.”

It is expected about 300 entrants will take part in this year’s event with a $4,000 prize for first place, and a second place and people’s choice prize also up for grabs.

The independent judging panel will look for a range of elements within the portraits, including evidence of exceptional technical skill and pushing the boundaries of their chosen medium.

“The great thing about photography and art is that it’s subjective and you can be quite new to photography and still take a great photograph,” Corey said.

“I always like a photo that tells a story, in portrait you’re looking at the kind of emotion that they’ve been able to capture and their presence.”

Corey said one of the things making the exhibition stand out and exciting is discovering photographers around the region that haven’t been recognised and giving them some showtime.

“We have a heap of sensational photographers that were represented last year and we’ve seen applications from them already,” he said.

“It’s really exciting for us to be able to showcase the Geelong, Surf Coast and Bellarine region.”

The gallery also hosts the Liminal Art Prize, which also follows a similar format where all entered pieces are part of the exhibition and open to professional and amateur artists.

Corey and Harriet have big plans for the gallery and its prizes in the future, hoping to grow them as they continue to support all skill levels.

“Our prizes, both the Geelong Photographic Portrait Prize and the Liminal Art Prize, we really want them to be top tier awards and prizes within the country,” Corey said.

“We really want to put Geelong on the map as far as photography and the art scene and to be a beacon for artistic expression.”

Entries close on March 15, with the exhibition running from April 26 until May 24.

For more information and to complete the entry form, head to liminalgalleryandlab.com