Melbourne artist Valerie Sparks has won the 2016 William and Winifred Bowness Photography Prize with her work 'Prospero's Island – North East' featuring one of Australia’s most iconic landscapes. The MGA Foundation would also like to extend their congratulations to the three recipients of the Colour Factory Honourable Mention: Phaedra Barnes, Stephen Dupont and Tajette O'Halloran.

In 2006 the MGA Foundation established the William and Winifred Bowness Photography Prize to promote excellence in contemporary Australian photography.

The prize is open to any Australian photographer, whether amateur or professional, and all genres of photography are eligible, provided that the work has been produced in the last 12 months. Each year a panel of three judges considers hundreds of entries and curates an exhibition of finalists, before settling on a single winner. This year’s panel consisted of the award-winning Australian filmmaker Fred Schepisi AO, Australian photographer John Gollings and MGA Director Kallie Blauhorn.

While the $25 000 cash prize is highly coveted, the exhibition of finalists also highlights some of the most interesting work being created by photographers today. In this respect, the Bowness Photography Prize has become an important annual survey of contemporary photography in Australia.