Head On Photo Award Winners for 2022 announced

At the launch of the Head On Photo Festival on the 4 November 2022, the winners of the Head On Photo Awards in Portrait, Landscape and Student categories were finally announced. A festival that takes place annually in Sydney, Australia – Head On Photo Festival, now in its 13^th year, showcases works by over 500 photo-artists whose works are scattered across different venues in the city. Boasting a prize pool of $70,000 – including $30,500 in cash – the Awards offer Australia’s most significant prize for photography. The judges for this year’s Awards included -renowned curator Azu Nwagbogu, also Founder and Director of the non-profit organisation – African Artists’ Foundation based in Nigeria, and Kaya Lee Berne, Photo Editor at the National Geographic Magazine. These are their selected award winners in the three categories –

Head On Photo Portrait Awards –

Winner – Marika Lortkipanidze – The invisible doors

This image taken during a production of The Threepenny Opera depicts the translucent divide of difference and bias that prevents society from seeing individuals with Down Syndrome as people with the same desire, fears, and love. The opacity, invisibility and muted hues, highlight this door of exclusion so well, and forces us to question its presence altogether.

Australian Runner up – Amy Woodward – Lily, her daughter’s hand

International Runner up – Jack Lawson – The Special Eagles

Head On Photo Landscape Awards –

Winner – Antoine Buttafoghi – A few meters from eternity

This work shot in the extreme climate of Greenland, subliminally capturing its strength and beauty, brings to the horizon the extraordinary power and quiet vulnerability of nature and all that it is capable of holding.

International Runner up – Jodie James – A bitter cold peace

Australian Runner up – Diego Fedele – Untitled

Head On Photo Student Awards –

Winner – Leila Middleton – Me

Having always been behind the camera and never in front of it, Middleton breaks through the fourth wall and attempts to take down the pillars of her insecurities as she looks straight into the camera and captures this winning self-portrait. The gaze- unshaking, the image- unedited, this raw photograph gives us a look into the mind and body of a teenager trying to find herself amongst a dark world of outward perspectives.

Runner up – Erica Williams – Feta

Runner up – Marcus Dawson – Untitled