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Santa Fe Prize for Photography

The bi-ennial Santa Fe Prize for Photography recognizes and rewards a gifted and committed photographer who has completed, or is near completion of, a meaningful body of work. This prize is to bring new work to light and by awarding an under-recognized talent.

The award process is by nomination only; photographers cannot apply independently. The prize includes $5,000 and participation in Review Santa Fe; online exhibition and more.

2009 WINNER
Hiroyo Kaneko, San Francisco, CA; Sentimental Education

FINALISTS
Monika Bielskyte, Paris, France; A Place to Wash the Heart
Carolyn Drake, New York, NY; Paradise Rivers
Lucas Foglia, New York, NY; Re-Wilding
Soo Kim, Los Angeles, CA: Midnight Reyjavik
Janelle Lynch, New York, NY; Los Jardines Perdidos, Mexico

NOMINEES
Click here for the full list of the 2009 nominees.

2009 JUROR
Charlotte Cotton, Curator and Head of the Wallis Annenberg Department of Photography, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA

"More than any other year that I have been judging contemporary photography competitions, there’s a welcome rise in the number of nominated photographers engaging with our big social and political issues, looking out in to the world for the stories of who and what we are...

Because I took my time, and returned throughout the past three weeks to the photographers and bodies of work that I felt were the strongest, I hope my choices for the prize and finalists are not governed by the novelty of seeing a body of work for the first time or dependent on my mood on a particular day! Instead, I gradually selected down to the projects where I felt the photographer had meaningfully investigated their subjects, created successful and enduring balances between their concept and the real experience of their chosen subjects."

Read the entire Juror's Statement