Amanda Williams wins 2018 MAMA Art Foundation National Photography Prize
Amanda has been awarded the prize for her series Cooleman Plain Karst, Kosciuszko National Park, (know who you are at every age), 2017-2018.
In announcing the award, guest judge, Isobel Parker Philip, stated that she was ‘impressed with the rigour of [all the] artists practices’ and had a ‘deep and profound respect’ for their work.
"[photograph] is just an inscription made of light, no more, no less…these artists continue to interrogate and reimagine the limits of the medium, demonstrating a curiosity of the world and how it can be reflected in their work, as well as a curiosity for the medium itself."
Isobel congratulated the curation of the exhibition and thanked MAMA for ‘the privilege of being allowed to spend time with each work, allowing each to slowly reveal its secrets’.
Amanda’s winning works included a series of prints featuring a single image from Kosciusko National Park, reproduced nine times on photographic paper that is unfixed. As a result, each print is subtly changing colour over time.
In accepting the award, Amanda described photography as her passion and thanked the MAMA Art Foundation for the opportunity to continue her photographic practice.
The work has now enter the MAMA collection, where it will continue a strong tradition of celebrating Australian photography. MAMA Art Foundation Chair Tony Smith emphasized the importance of the continued acquisition of photography into the MAMA collection.
In addition, the $5000 non-acquisitive John and Margaret Baker Memorial Fellowship for an emerging artist had been awarded to Ioulia Terizis, also of Sydney, for her series of four gelatin silver photographs including Slivers and Shard, 2017.
Collider, 2017
Gelatin silver photograph
Image courtesy the artist
Slivers and Shard, 2017
Gelatin silver photograph
Image courtesy the artist
Many of the exhibiting artists were present and commented on the exceptional selection and presentation of a broad range of contemporary photography. ‘It’s exciting to see so many of the people that influenced me in one room’ one artist stated. ‘It’s a huge encouragement in my own work and I’m so grateful to have been selected as a finalist’.
The exhibition featured a small series from each of the 12 finalists: Amanda Williams, Caroline Rothwell, Ioulia Terizis, Izabela Pluta, James Farley, James Tylor, Kieran Butler, Lynne Roberts-Goodwin, Tim Silver, Todd McMillan, Tully Arnot and Val Wens.
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