Entries sought for community arts prize

SUBMISSIONS are now open for the fourth annual Lorne Community Connect Photographic Prize, with all eyes set on making it the biggest one yet.

The event will take centre stage in Lorne in April, with more than 200 photographic works set to light up the region.

This year’s theme “Becoming and Belonging” invites photographers to “explore the intimate spaces between who we were and who we’re becoming”.

Entries will be judged by guest curator, visual artist, photographer and RMIT lecturer Pia Johnson.

Her award-winning works have been exhibited internationally and across Australia, and are included in both private and public collections, including that of the National Gallery of Victoria.

Johnson said she was excited to see the distinctive photography that comes forward for next year’s exhibition.

“Submissions should illuminate the universal human experience of finding our tribe, our purpose, or our sense of place in our ever-changing world.

“Whether documenting places and spaces, personal memories, cultural identity, or the search for community, photographers are challenged to reveal the beauty in both the journey to belong and the courage to become.”

Lorne Community Connect secretary Lesley Thornton said the organisation hoped to have a few hundred entries in contention for the top $1,000 prize.

“It’s been gradually growing over the four years, and we are fresh off the back of our biggest number of entries last year.

“This year we are thrilled to have Pia Johnson on board as our special guest curator and are excited to see the theme she came up with come to life.

“For us, it’s about challenging ourselves to grow the exhibition and for it to evolve into what it will be. We are hopeful it will be even more successful than last year.”

There will be a children’s exhibition for students from Lorne P-12 College alongside the general open division.

Entries will close on February 7, with a shortlist announced on February 20.

For more information, head to lornecommunityconnect.com.au/2026-photographic-prize-exhibition-becoming-and-belonging