Winner of the $50,000 Moran Contemporary Photographic Prize 2019 revealed
Photographer Tamara Dean has won the 2019 Moran Contemporary Photographic Prize (MCPP) for her image Endangered, taking home a $50,000 prize for her series of photographs addressing the effects of climate change on the Great Barrier Reef.
Recognised as one of Australia’s richest photography prizes, The MCPP was established in 2007 by the Moran Arts Foundation and it awards and promotes Australian contemporary photography and excellence in all forms of still, photo-based artwork - including analogue and digital photography or staged and directorial photo-media work.
Dean was presented with her award at an event at Juniper Hall in Paddington, Sydney, on Tuesday evening.
Her winning images was selected from over 3,000 entries by judges Cheryl Newman, Jon Jones, and Stephen Dupont. Cheryl Newman is an international photographer and curator, Jon Jones is a celebrated international photojournalist and photo editor, and Stephen Dupont is an Australian photographer, artist, and filmmaker.
Cheryl Newman said that Dean's image is a personal response to climate change.
"This symbolic image addresses the fragility of our planet and vulnerability of its inhabitants. Endangered is an important picture; its message is challenging, its presentation poetic.”
Tamara Dean is a respected photographer, whose work explores the relationship between humans and the natural world. Endangered is one of a series of photographs about The Great Barrier Reef.
"The Great Barrier Reef, the world's largest living marine structure, is finding little reprieve from more intense and frequent marine heat waves brought on by climate change that cause devastating bleaching.
Biologists predict that if we continue carrying on the way we are then by the end of this century 50% of species living today will face extinction. And humans are not immune. To see ourselves as different and separate to the ecology and ecosystem of our planet is leaving humanity unprepared.
We are mammals in a sensitive ecosystem, vulnerable to the same forces of climate change as every other living creature."
For 2019, photographers were invited to tell a story of how they experience living in Australia; places, people and lifestyle that make our lovable country quintessentially Australian.
The Moran Contemporary Photographic Exhibition is now open and runs until Sunday, 2 June. The exhibition is open Thursday to Sunday between 10am and 4pm.
You can see a selection of the finalist images below.
