Help us continue to showcase great photography in Sydney.
Join us as we bring great photography by emerging and established photographers that explores ideas and our world through an annual festival of exhibitions, workshops and conversations led by Australian and international artists and thought-leaders. Head On Photo Festival is presented by the not-for-profit Head On Foundation.
*Please note donations are not tax deductable
We have been helping photographers to create, exhibit and inspire since 2004. Since then, we have awarded over $700,000 in cash and prizes to photographers all over the world.
The Head On Photo Awards represent a global selection of the best work from emerging and established photographers across three categories;
Portrait | Landscape | Student
The Head On Portrait and Landscape Awards are open INTERNATIONALLY to professional, emerging and enthusiast photographers from classical to contemporary styles, and the Head On Student Award is open to Australia’s young photographers (school years K-12).
Work is judged anonymously; no identifying details of the photographer will be visible to the judges to ensure that the photographer's celebrity and/or the subject of the image does not affect the selection process.
The judging panel is comprised of leaders in the Australian and international photography communities. It represents all aspects of the photography world, including curators, picture editors, photographers, educators and other industry leaders.
Over 2000 people attended the 2019 Head On Photo Festival launch, where the Head On Photo Award winners were announced.
The Head On Photo Awards exhibitions receive large visitation across two venues, Head On Photo Festival Hub and Paddington Reservoir Gardens.
In 2020 finalists shared $70,000 prize pool including $30,500 in cash.
Curators walkthrough 2019 Portrait Prize Photo: Stephen Godfrey
The Head On Photo Awards Finalists’ exhibitions will be open to the public during Head On Photo Festival 2021 at the Festival Hub. The Festival Hub is at the heart of the Festival where talks, tours and school excursions take place; in 2019, the Hub attracted over 12,000 visits. Head On team curates, designs and produces the exhibitions and the Festival covers all associated costs (once you enter your image, we do the rest).
Each year we produce a limited edition, 120-page printed catalogue of the Finalists’ work. The high quality 20x20cm hardback book contains a full page for each photograph. It is available for purchase at the Festival hub or in our online store.
Having difficulty choosing the right images to enter into photo awards?
Listen to our presenters: Head On Photo Festival Creative Director, Moshe Rosenzveig OAM and past Head On Photo Award winners Chris Round and Lauren Horwood discuss tips for entering photo competitions and answer questions. This session was recorded on 12 February 2020
To get free access the webinar login or create a free account on our site.
Head On Portrait Award 2020 International runner upPhoto credit: Jouk Oosterhof
The image must feature or reflect the essence of a person or group of people and must be photographed by the Applicant. Group portraits, self-portraits and collages are accepted.
Head On Landscape Award 2020 WinnerPhoto credit: Marcia Macmillan
Our approach to ‘landscape’ is very broad and encompasses ‘large vista’ images of the natural environment (land or sea), urban or industrial settings. It may include people, but these should be ‘incidental’ rather than the main subject matter.
