Frank Hurley Photography Award launches
A new international photography award, The Frank Hurley Photography Awards, named after the pioneer of Australian Antarctic photography, James Francis “Frank” Hurley, has launched, with the aim of showcasing photographs that celebrate nature, scenery, adventure and the incredible beauty of the polar regions.
The new competition has been put together by the Mawson’s Huts Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation that will use the money raised by the Awards to help with the ongoing conservation of Mawson’s Huts in Cape Denison and East Antarctica, where the Australian explorer Sir Douglas Mawson was stationed between 1911-1914 while he led the Australasian Antarctic Expedition.
Frank Hurley was the official photographer for that expedition. His images were instrumental in inspiring the world’s curiosity in Antarctica, adventures and explorers, and set him in good stead for a long and impressive career in photography that spanned fifty years, multiple expeditions, two world wars and a series of documentaries and films.
There will be five categories that photographers can enter in the competition. The base fee for entering will be AUD $50 for two images in any category or categories, with reduced costs per image for any additional entries. Australian primary and high school students are also eligible to enter the competition, and upon presenting a valid student number, they will be eligible for a 50% discount on their entry fees.
Award Categories
The categories open to entrants are:
Polar: images that are taken below a latitude of 60 degrees south or above a latitude of 60 degrees north
Scenic: photographs of deserts, mountain rangers, sunsets, lakes, rivers etc.
Nature: images of flora or fauna, taken anywhere and including underwater photographs
Portraits of Adventure: photographs taken anywhere in the world but they must include one person
Composition: inspired by Frank Hurley’s photography, this category can include images that make use of multiple exposures, montages and manipulated imagery
The Frank Hurley Photography Awards will be held biennially, with the overall winner set to take home a much sought after prize. The overall winner will be awarded a 10 day Antarctic expedition cruise, which sets off from Ushuaia Argentina, inclusive of air fares and accommodation.
The international panel of judges for this year’s competition, who are leading photographers in their own right, will include: Stephen Dupont, Katie Orlinsky, Krystle Wright, Paul Zizka, Nick Moir and Janet Carding.
Chairman of the Mawson's Huts Foundation, David Jensen AM said that one of the main purposes underpinning the Awards is to commemorate and honour Frank Hurley’s pioneering efforts in Antarctic and exploration photography.
“Frank Hurley was one of the outstanding characters of Mawson's expedition,” said Jensen.
“He was a brilliant photographer who worked tirelessly taking hundreds of still images and recording thousands of feet of film to create an everlasting record of the expedition.”
"The Foundation hopes the Frank Hurley Photography Awards will attract photographers from around the globe and assist in raising funds for the conservation of the historic Mawson’s Huts site where [Frank] first developed images of the Antarctic which captured the world’s imagination.”
Entries are open now and close on October 30. Winners will be announced on December 2. You can find out more details about the competition here.