Sydney CD + artist Christopher Holt shortlisted in William + Winifred Bowness Photography Prize

Creative director and artist Christopher Holt, has been shortlisted in the 2012 William and Winifred Bowness Photography Prize. He is among 42 finalists who will be exhibited at the Monash Gallery of Art (MGA) in Melbourne with the winner to receive a prize of $25,000.

Holt is a graphic designer, who maintains his own small studio, Holt, and is contributing to larger projects at film and graphics collective, Collider

Click to view the finalists’ images here.

Says Shaun Lakin, MGA gallery director: “The finalists represent the best in contemporary Australian photography.”

Established in 2006 to promote excellence in photography, the annual non-acquisitive William and Winifred Bowness Photography Prize is among Australia’s most important art prizes and the country’s most coveted photography competition.

Holt’s work, titled 4a Industrial Zone Brothels, was selected from almost 2,500 photographs submitted by 495 entrants, the biggest ever year for the prestigious prize. Drawing on his 20-year career as a designer, in Melbourne, London and Sydney, Holt will present the work as a 24 page cloth bound artists’ book, showing eight photographs from the ongoing series. Holt shot the images of legal brothels, located in industrial areas across greater suburban Sydney and Melbourne, using a traditional large format camera.

Holt, who has in the past taken time out from design to focus on his work as an artist, says he is now managing to pursue both creative outlets in tandem.

Says Holt: “Photography and art direction have always been a big part of my practice as a designer and having an eye for composition has been an advantage to my design career.

“As an artist, I can apply my design skills to the presentation of my photography work, as I have with the artists’ book selected by the Bowness Prize. It was perhaps the work of Ed Ruscha in the late 60’s that exposed artists’ books as a viable medium to the art world. In designing my own, it’s very satisfying to be able to control the process of how the work is produced, from every view point.”

The judging panel for this year’s Bowness Prize is drawn from amongst the heavy weights of the photography and art world – celebrated Australian Magnum photographer, Trent Parke, National Gallery of Victoria’s senior curator photography, Isobel Crombie, as well as Lakin from the MGA. The winner will be announced at the MGA on October 4 and the exhibition runs at the gallery until 18 November.

As a designer, Holt first gained a profile as art director on seminal 90’s magazine, Black + White, and has gone on to work with a range of arts, community and commercial clients, including Eftpos, Chanel, Metlink Melbourne, the City of Sydney, and the Centre for Contemporary Photography.