Winner revealed - Australia's Top Emerging Photographer 2016
Who is Australia's Top Emerging Photographer 2016?
John Feely has been named the overall winner, Australia’s Top Emerging Photographer 2016. A massive congratulations to all the other category winners, runners-up and finalists – all of whom will be revealed in the May/June edition of the magazine.
Along with the title, Feely also wins the grand prize – a Fujifilm X-T1 and XF 18-135mm lens valued at $2,599 – from our major sponsor, Fujifilm, along with $5,000. He won the Documentary/Photojournalism category and was runner-up in the Portrait category. Congratulations must also go to Sarah Maslankiewicz, winner of the Student category, but also overall runner-up, Australia’s Top Emerging Photographer 2016.
This year the total prize pool for Australia’s Top Emerging Photographers was worth over $21,000, with $11,715 in prizes, plus cash prizes of $9,500. Category winners receive prizes from our category sponsors.
Now in its 8th year, the competition continues to grow in both stature and popularity. Its primary function is to highlight and expose the next generation of rising talent. In a world entirely awash with images, the competition helps cut through so much of the noise out there by identifying a pool of emerging photographers rich in talent. This year, the competition attracted 962 entries across the nine categories, comprising 5,772 images. This represented an increase in entries of almost 60% from last year’s 607 portfolio submissions.
Full portfolios of the winners and runners-up, along with an image from each of the finalists will appear online in the coming months. The Zinio edition of the magazine contains an expanded showcase, while the print version has a special liftout section with all the results. All going well, the Zinio edition should be live sometime tomorrow, with the print edition not far behind. Over the coming weeks, you can expect to see work appearing on our Instagram feed.
Finally, much thanks to our major sponsor, Fujifilm, and all our category sponsors, which included CATC Design School, EIZO, Goal Zero, Momento Pro, National Portrait Gallery, QNAP, Sally Brownbill, SUNSTUDIOS, and Think Tank Photo, for their immense generosity and commitment to supporting emerging photographic talent.
Overall winner - John Feely
John Feely’s allegorical approach to photography is an extension of meaningful shared experiences in a range of diverse locations, circumstances and cultures. His previous careers as a behavioural advisor in public education and youth detention, and as a semi-professional footballer influence his photography. He trained at the Queensland College of Arts, and has assisted some of Australia’s premier commercial photographers. He is committed to independent projects that provide him with the freedom to genuinely and deeply explore.
johnfeely.net
Overall runner-up - Sarah Maslankiewicz
Sarah Maslankiewicz is an artist who uses photography to express herself as she feels she is a frustrated artist who cannot draw. Her work challenges the viewer to harness the power of their imagination. She creates vulnerable, whimsical and complex worlds that exist only in dreams. Maslankiewicz describes her photography as mystical, tragic and erotic. She recently completed an Advanced Diploma of Photography (Art Major), and has discovered her passion for illustration using photography.