![Judge of the 2024 Murray Art Museum Albury National Photography Prize Nici Cumpston with senior curator Nanette Orly. Picture by Mark Jesser Judge of the 2024 Murray Art Museum Albury National Photography Prize Nici Cumpston with senior curator Nanette Orly. Picture by Mark Jesser](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/beau.greenway/6f0a409c-d3c7-42d3-b3be-cee32a99ca80.jpg/r0_0_7729_5153_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
A diverse range of works "challenging the photographic medium" are being displayed on the Border as part of the 2024 Murray Art Museum Albury National Photography Prize.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Saturday, March 23, marked the opening of the biennial event, which has seen more than 140 entries narrowed down to 12 finalists for a $30,000 acquisitive prize, supported by the MAMA Art Foundation.
Sydney photographer Ellen Dahl took out the National Photography Prize with the work Four Days Before Winter, part of an ongoing project that explores the peripheral Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard.
"The four part work presents close up details of collapsing terrain due to melting permafrost as a result of ongoing coal mining in the region," MAMA said.
![Originally from arctic Norway and of Sami descent, Ellen Dahl now lives on Gadigal land, Sydney. Picture supplied Originally from arctic Norway and of Sami descent, Ellen Dahl now lives on Gadigal land, Sydney. Picture supplied](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/zVtrQGhRGBmiD3RNa8bKgt/3aaa189b-42b6-43dc-955b-06d0b37a1370.jpg/r0_0_2048_1365_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
The $5000 John and Margaret Baker Memorial Fellowship for the best emerging artist went to Olga Svyatova for their work They, an ongoing photographic project that explores multiple connections between time, relationships, and archival images.
![Olga Svyatova "appropriates their own personal experience of differing cultures and histories to invite reflections on the intricate connections that sustain our lives across time and space". Picture supplied Olga Svyatova "appropriates their own personal experience of differing cultures and histories to invite reflections on the intricate connections that sustain our lives across time and space". Picture supplied](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/zVtrQGhRGBmiD3RNa8bKgt/d07603a7-3185-489e-ac3b-a93b5f2c5d0c.jpg/r0_0_2048_1365_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Other finalists include Alex Walker and Daniel O'Toole, Ali McCann, Ali Tahayori, Ioulia Panoutsopoulos, Izabela Pluta, Kai Wasikowski, Nathan Beard, Rebecca McCauley and Aaron Claringbold, Sammy Hawker, and Skye Wagner.
Works explore numerous themes and concepts including the environment and its degradation, family histories and connection to place through a host of photographic styles such as large-scale installations, collages, archival and chemical processes.
Judge of the prize, Nici Cumpston, an Adelaide-based photographer, curator and writer, said the entries were really strong as the museum allowed artists to present a series of works.
"You get a true sense of what the artist is trying to convey," she said.
"In Australian art prizes, normally you would just present a work, so this is a real celebration of photography. It's a real opportunity for audiences to learn more about the medium of photography and to see the way that artists have engaged with the medium.
![Sydney artist Skye Wagner's entry in the 2024 Murray Art Museum Albury National Photography Prize. Picture by Mark Jesser Sydney artist Skye Wagner's entry in the 2024 Murray Art Museum Albury National Photography Prize. Picture by Mark Jesser](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/beau.greenway/3ffaff28-b7fd-4906-9029-526596e59b93.jpg/r0_0_7559_5039_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"It's really important for the artists but also for the museum to do it in this way.
"It was a huge pool of artists who actually applied. We had more than 140 artists apply and we've got 12 finalists.
"There's a really great cross section of people and people of different backgrounds as well."
![A diverse range of works feature among the 12 finalists of the 2024 Murray Art Museum Albury National Photography Prize. Picture by Mark Jesser A diverse range of works feature among the 12 finalists of the 2024 Murray Art Museum Albury National Photography Prize. Picture by Mark Jesser](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/beau.greenway/46a7f659-0489-4711-9fe6-b23366634009.jpg/r0_0_8256_5504_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Cumpston began as the inaugural curator of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art at the Art Gallery of South Australia in 2008 and has been the artistic director of Tarnanthi Festival of Contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art since its inception in 2014.
Senior curator of the exhibition Nanette Orly said the works would be on show at the museum for six months.
"I think everyone will be pretty surprised by the diverse range of photographic practices on display," she said.
![A diverse range of works feature among the 12 finalists of the 2024 Murray Art Museum Albury National Photography Prize. Picture by Mark Jesser A diverse range of works feature among the 12 finalists of the 2024 Murray Art Museum Albury National Photography Prize. Picture by Mark Jesser](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/beau.greenway/1030c09b-5f1d-4bba-95b3-cac124eb84be.jpg/r0_0_8256_5504_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"Everyone is challenging the photographic medium and I think people will be drawn to the really expansive installations, but also some of them have smaller, intimate moments in the show.
"Because it is a national prize, the applicants really were from the entire country, so it was quite a huge process to go through that. We have artists that are based in WA as well as ACT, Victoria and NSW."