Prize Recipients Announced
Thank you to all who participated in Stories 2022
Image © Katelyn Slyer / Stories 2021 Shortlist
Now in its third edition, Stories is a series-based award designed to celebrate the best in photographic narrative. In 2022, along with our existing awards focused on Australian photography, we are excited to launch a new Stories category open to photographers world-wide. We see this as an opportunity to further celebrate Australian photography on an international stage.
Operated by Photo Collective and supported by Picter, Momento Pro, Nikon Australia and PPIB, Stories seeks traditional, artful and new modes of storytelling which reflect our current times.
Please Note
The Australian Category is for Australian residents and Australians living abroad. Themes and content do not need to be Australian and can be made anywhere in the world
The International Category is open to all photographers residing outside of Australia. Themes and content can be made anywhere in the world.
Stories 2022 Shortlist
We are thrilled to showcase the shortlist for Stories 2022. Thank you to all who shared their work and vision with us. We extend our deepest congratulations to:
Oskar Alvarado
Mridula Amin
Sanja Burns
Shannon Cavarocchi
Javier Corso
Teva Cosic
Mauro Curti
Lidia D’Opera
Meg De Young
Elise Margaret Derwin
Diego Fedele
Mateo Ruiz Gonzalez
Pang Hai
Biljana Jurukovski
Karoliina Kase
Alexander Komenda
Starry Kong
Tomasz Liboska
Nanouk Prins
Ben Reynolds
Chris Round
Cecilia Sordi Campos
Lisa Sorgini
Tristan Still
Julie Sundberg
Dave Tacon
Noah John Thompson
Federico Tisa
Amy Woodward
KyeongJun Yang
Follow the link below to view the shortlisted projects
Supported by
2022 Stories Event
The 2022 Stories Event is an exciting and curated evening taking place in July 2022. The event will be held in the heart of Melbourne, Australia and broadcast live to an audience internationally.
Through large-scale cinema projection, winner announcements and a series of artist talks, this unique event will present the 2022 Stories finalists to an audience of curators, industry representatives and the broader photographic community.
We are so excited to share this opportunity to our 2022 entrants and look forward to seeing our community come together and experience live events once again.
Stories Annual Publication
Cover image by Tristan Still, Stories 2022 Shortlist.
The 2022 Stories Annual is a publication showcasing diverse photographic narratives from Australia and around the world.
The Annual weaves together Stories both personal and observatory from 30 contemporary Australian and international photographers. From large events to intimate moments, the Annual forms an overarching view of the year that was.
The publication contains 72 pages of beautiful, striking imagery which is accompanied by statements from the artist communicating their Stories. The 2022 Stories Annual is created in collaboration with Momento Pro.
Please note that this publication is currently in pre-sale. Expected delivery early August, 2022
Key Info
Initial Judging
Once entries close, our in-house committee will consider all Stories through a scoring system. During scoring the panel is free to discuss anything that may aid in judging the Stories. For example this may include explaining an uncommon technique used or identifying subject matter.
The highest scoring 20 submissions from the Australian Category and 20 submissions from the International Category will then be shortlisted for the next round of judging. In the event of multiple Stories being tied, the panel may re-score the submissions in the tie, and discuss the merits of each body of work to come to a final decision. Once they have selected the top 20 submissions across both categories they will manually review all entries to ensure nothing was overlooked. If they feel there are more than 20 submissions in either category which are serious contenders they will bring them in for the next round.
All 40 shortlisted entrants will then be contacted by email and a public announcement will be made via email, social channels and through our website.
Final Judging
Following initial judging, the Australian Category committee members will discuss and review each of the 20 finalist Stories. The committee will have the opportunity to preview all submissions before judging commences. Each entry is then scored and deliberated over to determine the final outcome. In the event of multiple entries being tied, the judging committee will discuss the merits of each of the entries to come to a final decision. All 20 finalists in the Australian Category will be included in the Stories Publication and Event.
The International Category committee members will also discuss and review each of the 20 shortlisted Stories, before selecting 10 finalists to be included in the 2022 Stories Publication and Event. The committee will have the opportunity to preview all submissions before judging commences. Each entry is then scored and deliberated over to determine the final outcome. In the event of multiple entries being tied, the judging committee will discuss the merits of each of the entries to come to a final decision.
We believe this discussion and deliberation allows the judging committee to work together to deliver the best possible outcome for the entrants.
Winners Announcements
The three winning Stories (2x Australian, 1x International) will be announced at the Stories 2022 Event and through our social media platforms, email database and website. The 20 Australian Category and 10 International Category finalists will also be published in the Stories 2022 Annual and will continue to be profiled, shared and featured through our channels throughout the year.
Other judging considerations
Administrators and employees of Photo Collective are not allowed to enter Stories. Neither is the judging committee for Stories allowed to enter. We are committed to ensuring that all entrants are treated equally regardless of their background or notoriety. We ensure our committee is held to the highest standard of ethics and every submission is treated with the same amount of time and respect. When discussing the finalists, if committee members know the image or creator, they will acknowledge this briefly before presenting their ideas and thoughts so that this can be taking into consideration.
Prizes
Australian Prize 1
Cash Prize AU$2,000
Nikon Z Camera Kit to the value of AU$4,000
Featured in the 2022 Stories Publication
Exhibited at the 2022 Stories Event in Melbourne, Australia (event costs covered by Photo Collective)
Momento Pro voucher AU$375
Australian Prize 2
Cash Prize AU$2,000
Nikon Z Camera Kit to the value of AU$4,000
Featured in the 2022 Stories Publication
Exhibited at the 2022 Stories Event in Melbourne, Australia (event costs covered by Photo Collective)
Momento Pro voucher AU$375
International Prize
Cash Prize AU$3,000
Featured in the 2022 Stories Publication
Exhibited at the 2022 Stories Event in Melbourne, Australia (event costs covered by Photo Collective)
The three winning Stories (2x Australian, 1x International) will be announced at the 2022 Stories Event in Melbourne, Australia and through our social media platforms, email database and the Photo Collective website. Shortlisted finalists will continue to be profiled, shared and featured through our channels throughout the year.
Past Submissions
Matthew Thorne – The Sand That Ate The Sea (2020)
Rory King – Burnt Fingers, Broken Nose (2020)
Tajette O’Halloran – In Australia (2020)
Katelyn Slyer – Childhood Nostalgia (2021)
Cecilia Sordi Campos – Tem Bigato Nessa Goiaba (2021)
Chanel Irvine – Another English Summer (2021)
Submission Info
Rules
Cost of submission
The cost of submitting to Stories is $45USD per series (6 – 10 images)
Submission dates
Submissions open on March 21st, 2022 and close on May 23rd, 2022 at 11.59pm AEST
Categories
Stories has two categories:
1) Australian Category – Open to anybody residing in Australia for Australians living overseas
2) International Category – Open to anybody residing outside of Australia without an Australian citizenship
We are searching for visual narrative ranging from traditional to new and experimental approaches to storytelling.
Time restrictions
There is no time stipulation on when the work has been produced.
The use of archival and found imagery is also accepted provided that the entrant is not in breach of any copyright. Where applicable, we may ask for proof of permissions to ensure that appropriate ethical considerations have been met.
Previously entered into Stories
We can accept Stories which have been in part submitted previously, although we require the overall work to be substantially different enough photographically and/or conceptually to warrant re-entry
Previously entered into other competitions
Imagery which has previously been entered into other competitions including Australian Photography Awards are welcome to be submitted
Who can enter
Entries are open to anybody provided they meet the category guidelines as stated above
Location of imagery
Photos can be taken anywhere in the world regardless of category
Supply of files
For best results images should be saved as a high resolution JPEG at 3000px in size. Do not watermark or put any identifying branding on the images as this will result in disqualification
File naming
We don’t require your files to be named a certain way. When you submit an entry, our system generates an associated file name. Photographer information and descriptive text will be added along with the image in the entry process
Number of images per submission
Each submitted series should contain 6 – 10 images
Captions and statement
Each submission will need to be titled and a statement provided. Series descriptions are capped at 1000 characters
Community guidelines
If you have feedback, either positive or negative we love to hear from you. Please reach us at hello@photocollective.com.au
We encourage comments, debate and engagement through our social media channels but have no tolerance for abusive behaviour. As a policy we don’t delete posts and endeavour to address any concerns publicly. However we do not tolerate abusive language or behaviour that compromises the work of the individuals we feature.
For further information please view our Terms and Conditions.
Your Rights
As always our main priority is to support photographers. Photographers will retain all and unconditional copyright to their imagery. We will only use the photographer’s imagery to promote Australian Photography Awards, Stories, Australian Photobook Awards or Photo Collective and to celebrate and feature the photographer’s work. Imagery is always credited and for features we will work with the photographers for selection. If a photographer doesn’t want us to use imagery we will happily comply.
Judging Process
Initial Judging
Once entries close, our in-house committee will consider all Stories through a scoring system. During scoring the panel is free to discuss anything that may aid in judging the Stories. For example this may include explaining an uncommon technique used or identifying subject matter. The highest scoring 20 submissions from the Australian Category and 20 submissions from the International Category will then be shortlisted for the next round of judging. In the event of multiple Stories being tied, the panel may re-score the submissions in the tie, and discuss the merits of each body of work to come to a final decision. Once they have selected the top 20 submissions across both categories they will manually review all entries to ensure nothing was overlooked. If they feel there are more than 20 submissions in either category which are serious contenders they will bring them in for the next round. All 40 shortlisted entrants will then be contacted by email and a public announcement will be made via email, social channels and through our website.
Final Judging
Following initial judging, the Australian Category committee members will discuss and review each of the 20 finalist Stories. The committee will have the opportunity to preview all submissions before judging commences. Each entry is then scored and deliberated over to determine the final outcome. In the event of multiple entries being tied, the judging committee will discuss the merits of each of the entries to come to a final decision. All 20 finalists in the Australian Category will be included in the Stories Publication and Event.
The International Category committee members will also discuss and review each of the 20 shortlisted Stories, before selecting 10 finalists to be included in the 2022 Stories Publication and Event. The committee will have the opportunity to preview all submissions before judging commences. Each entry is then scored and deliberated over to determine the final outcome. In the event of multiple entries being tied, the judging committee will discuss the merits of each of the entries to come to a final decision. We believe this discussion and deliberation allows the judging committee to work together to deliver the best possible outcome for the entrants.
Winners Announcements
The three winning Stories (2x Australian, 1x International) will be announced at the Stories 2022 Event and through our social media platforms, email database and website. The 20 Australian Category and 10 International Category finalists will also be published in the Stories 2022 Annual and will continue to be profiled, shared and featured through our channels throughout the year.
Other judging considerations
Administrators and employees of Photo Collective are not allowed to enter Stories. Neither is the judging committee for Stories allowed to enter. We are committed to ensuring that all entrants are treated equally regardless of their background or notoriety. We ensure our committee is held to the highest standard of ethics and every submission is treated with the same amount of time and respect. When discussing the finalists, if committee members know the image or creator, they will acknowledge this briefly before presenting their ideas and thoughts so that this can be taking into consideration.