Picturing Footscray is a free open-entry photography prize that has been celebrating Melbourne's unique inner-west suburb of Footscray since 2016, documenting a period of significant change. In 2020, this is particularly poignant.

Against the backdrop of home-isolation and a global pandemic, life as we know it has changed and we’re adapting with it. Welcome to Picturing Footscray, virtually!

The Prize invites photographers of all capabilities to capture the essence of this great location during this tumultuous time, with the added challenge of respecting physical distancing and self-isolation requirements.  

Picturing Footscray 2020 logo

Prizes

  • First prize: $3000 + $300 Ernest Studio voucher
  • Second prize: $1000 + $250 Prism Imaging voucher
  • Third prize: $500
  • People’s Choice Award: $500
  • Student Prize sponsored by VU's Library Services: $500

Prizes will be awarded at the virtual exhibition opening on 13 August. The People's Choice award will be awarded at the conclusion of the voting period.

Picturing Footscray exhibition opening at VU at MetroWest in 2018 | Photographer: Shuttermain

Picturing Footscray is proudly sponsored by:

  • Ernest Studio
  • Prism Imaging
  • VU's Library Services
  • Two Birds Brewing

People's Choice Award

All valid entries displayed in the Picturing Footscray Photography Prize online exhibition are eligible to win the People’s Choice Award.

The people’s choice award will be selected at the end of the exhibition based on votes through the online gallery. The work that receives the most votes will be the People’s Choice Award winner.

  • Voting opens at 9am on Friday 14 August 2020. The winner of the $500 People’s Choice Award will be announced on Wednesday 16 September 2020.
  • To cast an eligible vote in the People’s Choice prize category, visit the online gallery and vote for your favourite photograph. 
  • Only one vote per person is permitted.

Online Gallery and People's Choice Award

All eligible photographs entered into Picturing Footscray will be displayed in an online gallery from 14 August. This is where you can also vote for your favourite photograph!

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Judges

Cameron Cope

Cameron James Cope is an image burglar, frequent stowaway and fine art printer based in Narrm (Melbourne). He has an extensive background in travel editorial and holds a Master of Fine Art at RMIT University - where he also runs photography workshops. His personal projects and photobooks explore how the past is embedded in the present through visual allegory and conceptual documentary.

Megan Evans

Megan Evans is an interdisciplinary artist, working in video, photography, sculpture and installation. Her work is informed by social issues. It examines the nature of belonging and the impact of colonisation on identity, both self and nation. Megan's career spans several decades and practices; her creative life began by doing large political murals in the 1980s. Over the last seven years she has exhibited both nationally and internationally, been published widely in books and journals and awarded international residencies.

COVID-19 & social distancing

This year, we’re encouraging entrants to document Footscray from isolation. All of the entries will be exhibited virtually, and become a visual archive of self-isolation in and around Footscray during COVID-19.

Here are some of our suggestions on ways you can navigate a photography prize under these unique circumstances:

  • Look back into your photography archive. Have you taken a photograph in Footscray in the past 18 months that stimulates curiosity and conversation?
  • If you’re a Footscray local, challenge yourself to interpret self-isolation creatively.
  • Not a Footscray local? You might have something at home that reminds you of Footscray. We’re interested to see ways that objects and people, and the stories behind them, take on a new life when interpreted with a different lens.

Please remain vigilant of the physical distancing and self-isolation requirements that are in place when participating in Picturing Footscray 2020. The health and safety of you and others are paramount. Visit our webpage about COVID-19 for more information and other resources.

Information symbol and the words Coronavirus (COVID-19)

VU's response to the coronavirus (COVID-19)

Victoria University (VU) has been taking decisive action to help keep the VU community safe since the escalation of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

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Entry details & selection criteria

Anyone can enter. There are no boundaries of age, ability, experience or technical equipment. Both amateur and professional photographers are invited to submit either analogue or digital photographs that hero Footscray.

Entry guidelines

  • Be an original work, completed and owned by the submitting photographer
  • Maximum 1 entry per person
  • Be taken in Footscray within the last 18 months or inspired by Footscray during COVID-19 isolation from March to July 2020
  • Photographs must be no smaller than 2mb and no larger than 5mb when uploaded to the entry form

​Each entry will be exhibited in a virtual exhibition unless:

  • the photograph is deemed offensive or defamatory
  • the photograph infringes copyright
  • the photograph does not adhere to the terms and conditions.

Judges selection criteria

The judging panel will be guided in their decision making by the following selection criteria:

  • high artistic merit
  • subject matter that best captures and celebrates Footscray
  • Entries that meet eligibility and entry guidelines

Key dates

  • Entries open: Friday 12 June
  • Entries close: Friday 31 July
  • Virtual exhibition opening and prize announcements: Thursday 13 August
  • Virtual exhibition: 13 August - 11 September

Enter online

Accessibility

If you are not able to access the entry form or you are having trouble submitting a photograph, please do not hesitate to contact us to arrange an alternative entry method.

Contact

Vivian Clark 
Place and Community Engagement Coordinator
+61 3 9919 4150
[email protected]

or

[email protected]

Advance by Pier Carthew, past Picturing Footscray second prize winner

Past winners


Test Shot at Westgay by Matto Lucas
  • First Prize: Test Shot at Westgay by Matto Lucas
  • Second Prize: Franco Cozzo by Oli Sansom
  • Third-prize: Footscray Drag Race by Xavier Smerdon
  • Student Prize: Barkly Street intersection by Mishka Winters


Footscray Embrace by Nathan Stolz

 

  • First prize: Footscray Embrace by Nathan Stolz
  • Second prize: Advance by Pier Carthew
  • Third prize: Caleb by the Bunbury Street Bridge by Shannon McDonald
  • People's choice: Giraffes on the Serengetti aka Sunset over the Dock by Elwyn Davies


Untitled by Christian Lukasik

 

  • Untitled by Christian Lukasik
  • Second prize: Roaming, Confident and Tall as the Sun by John Umina
  • Third prize: You are My Sunshine by Julia Wong
  • People's choice: Holiday in the West by Mikaela Foster


Local Footscray Music Icon by Wirut Khemnak

 

  • First prize: Local Footscray Music Icon by Wirut Khemnak
  • Second prize: Bunbury Blueprint by Rosie Howell
  • Third prize: The Heavenly Queen by Jaye Heraud
  • People's choice: Maribyrnong Reflections by Claudia Gonzalez Diaz

Winner of Picturing Footscray 2019, Matto Lucas, with Judges Adam Harding and Jody Haines. Photographer: Brent Edwards. 

Terms & conditions

Read the Terms & Conditions before entering. 

Picturing Footscray is an initiative of Victoria University and Footscray University Town.