Head On Portrait Prize - 1st Place - Antonio Heredia. “Some years ago, 29 year-old lawyer Oscar Prieto was diagnosed with brain cancer. Following surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, Oscar was able to beat the disease. Nowadays, he is the president of ASATE, an organization which provides help and guidance to those affected by brain cancer. By showing his own scars, Oscar tries to inspire and demonstrate that one can overcome cancer.”
Head On Portrait Prize - 2nd Place - Giles Clarke. “Sameer, 16, is held by his mother Wahida at home in Bhopal's Jamalpura neighborhood. Sameer was born to parents contaminated by carcinogenic and mutagenic water stemming from the 1984 Union Carbide gas tragedy which has claimed 25,000 lives to date. For decades thousands of families have used contaminated water leading to serious illness and birth defects, as afflicted Sameer. The title refers to scholar-activist Sandra Steingraber's concept of toxic trespass, in which toxic chemicals enter our bodies without our consent.”
Head On Portrait Prize - 3rd Place - KristianTaylor-Wood. “Lauren is one of the shining lights of the increasingly fashionable tattoo industry. Her quirky and unique pop-art tattooing style and expertise at blogging and social media have made her one of the most recognised names in the tattoo game. Lauren currently has 205K followers on Instagram, with the likes of Katy Perry and Miley Cyrus banging on her door to get inked. This portrait is part of a larger series named HighScrollers.”
Head On Landscape Prize - 1st Place - David Chancellor. “The Fallen. There's a moment between life and death, sleeping and waking that passes in an instant. For the briefest of moments one can see the beast at peace, calm and in a world that only he inhabits. All the chaos and trauma that went before is no longer bothersome; whilst vets regroup or hunters high five he waits patiently for life to start once more, or for some this is the end, and as I watch, the eye no longer is the gateway to the soul, but rather a reflection of the sky.”
Head On Landscape Prize - 2nd Place - Paul Hoelen. “Mining access roads built through the salt pan lake of Lake Lefroy, south of Kalgoorlie, Western Australia.”
Head On Landscape Prize - 3rd Place - Yasmin Mund. “It was 5:30am and I had just arrived at my guesthouse in Varanasi and instinctively climbed the 7 flights of stairs to see the sunrise over the famous river Ganga. As I looked over the side of the rooftop terrace my jaw dropped in disbelief. Below were mothers, fathers, children, cats, dogs, monkeys all sleeping on the roofs. It was mid-summer in Varanasi and sleeping without AC was difficult.”
Head On Mobile Prize - 1st Place - Andrew Morgan. “My grandfather, Albert, is forced to take a back seat ride home after a family dinner because he is no longer allowed to drive at night. He is an extremely independent 87 year old man, but the truth is that he cannot continue doing everything himself.”
Head On Mobile Prize - 2nd Place - Markus Andersen.
Head On Mobile Prize - 3rd Place - Ako Salemi. "A woman covered by a burqa passes by the Roze Sharif holy shrine in Mazar-e-Sharif, where white pigeons often congregate. The pigeon is the symbol of freedom in Afghanistan.”
Head On Student Prize - 1st Place - Isabelle Sijan. “Girl Sees All depicts the average teenage girl looking at life’s obstacles. This is represented via the snow-caps of New Zealand’s Mount Cook, which can be seen as a double exposure in the subject’s eyes. While the mountain may seem out of place, especially considering the somewhat empty background, it acts as a representation of the obstacles in one’s life – whether a physical challenge or mental – and thus is not equally reflected in the setting behind the girl.”
Head On Student Prize - 2nd Place - Pia Wylie. “My artwork involves placing a physical object in the form of a mirror into the natural environment, blending and blurring the lines between reality and the reflection of reality via the man-made. I love the idea of allowing a photograph, something that is 2D to show multiple facades. I aim to evoke a sense of contemplation and allow the audience to create their own personal reflection through the complex and almost surreal image.”
Head On Student Prize - 3rd Place - Ana Burenkova. “The water was colder than they thought it would be. I managed to capture the exact moment that they both realised they'd made a terrible mistake.”
Head On Landscape NSW Prize - Ireneusz Luty. “Part of the series, City de Noir. City de Noir assembles a suite of black and white images that focus on presenting intimate moments extracted from the urban environment. Through this, the selection draws attention to and captures both fleeting moments and particular contexts that might represent the unseen and overlooked life within the city of Sydney. Pictures employ long-exposure infrared techniques to capture the dynamism with a sensitive restraint of palette and temporality.”

Who won at Head On 2016?

By Marc Gafen | 4 May 2016

The winners across the four competition categories of the Head On Photo Festival have just been announced. The winners were revealed in front of a crowd of approximately 1,000 guests, at Sydney’s Lower Town Hall where the winner of the crowd-favourite category, Portrait, was announced as Antonio Heredia for his portrait of brain cancer survivor, Oscar Prieto, who beat the disease following surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The image captures Prieto’s lasting reminder - a deep scar running down the back of his skull. Second and third place were awarded to Giles Clarke and Kristian Taylor-Wood, respectively.

Head On Portrait Prize - 1st Place - Antonio Heredia. “Some years ago, 29 year-old lawyer Oscar Prieto was diagnosed with brain cancer. Following surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, Oscar was able to beat the disease. Nowadays, he is the president of ASATE, an organization which provides help and guidance to those affected by brain cancer. By showing his own scars, Oscar tries to inspire and demonstrate that one can overcome cancer.”

First place in the Landscape category went to David Chancellor for an image of an injured giraffe on the brink of death, which was captured in South Africa. Paul Hoelen and Yasmin Mund placed second and third, respectively. Andrew Morgan won the Mobile category, while Isabelle Sijan won the Student category.

Head On Landscape Prize - 1st Place - David Chancellor. “The Fallen. There's a moment between life and death, sleeping and waking that passes in an instant. For the briefest of moments one can see the beast at peace, calm and in a world that only he inhabits. All the chaos and trauma that went before is no longer bothersome; whilst vets regroup or hunters high five he waits patiently for life to start once more, or for some this is the end, and as I watch, the eye no longer is the gateway to the soul, but rather a reflection of the sky.”

The annual Head On Photo Festival is Australia’s largest photography event, a festival that boasts a bustling satellite program of talks, hands-on workshops and exhibitions. For the competition, more than 4,000 entrants vied for over $50,000 worth of prizes across the four categories: Portrait, Landscape, Mobile and Student.

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Head On Mobile Prize - 1st Place - Andrew Morgan. “My grandfather, Albert, is forced to take a back seat ride home after a family dinner because he is no longer allowed to drive at night. He is an extremely independent 87 year old man, but the truth is that he cannot continue doing everything himself.”