Anne Zahalka wins 2023 Bowness Photography Prize

Anne Zahalka has won the 2023 William and Winifred Bowness Photography Prize for her work Kunstkammer, which the competition judges called a 'tour-de-force'.

The series references the trompe l’oeil (trick of the eye) painting technique where architectural spaces, still-lives, or objects are rendered in painstaking realism. The technique was used to replicate her studio in a scale of 1:1, and cleverly shows more than 40 years of her work in the creative arts.

Over the last 17 years, the William and Winifred Bowness Photography Prize has emerged as an important annual survey of contemporary photographic practice in Australia. Zahalka wins $30,000, with her image also acquired into the Museum of Australian Photography’s (MAPh) collection of Australian photographs. 

"This work challenges assumptions about photography and how immersive and experiential it can be on a grand scale," said judge Anouska Phizacklea.

"It invites you into the artist’s process and inner workings in a way few artists have ever achieved."

As well as Zahalka's work, one finalist will also be selected for the $10,000 Wai Tang Commissioning Award which will coincide with the 2024 Bowness Photography Prize exhibition season. The Smith & Singer People’s Choice Award will also be voted by the public with the recipient receiving $5,000.