Heritage Bank Limited, Media Release, 14 September 2022
Heritage Bank has today announced the talented photographers who will share in a massive $50,000 prize pool as part of its 2022 Photographic Awards.
The annual Heritage Bank Photographic Awards are now in their 34th year and are one of the most lucrative, and longest running, in the country.
Tasmanian photographer Ray Jennings took home $15,000 as the winner in the overall Open Category with his striking image “Don’t fence me in” taken in rural Walcha.
In the other overall “Belonging” Themed Category, Sue Mayer-Miller from Mackay in Queensland took home $15,000 for her image “Unconditional”, a heart-warming image of the bond between her mother and their beloved pet cavalier.
Meanwhile, Stanthorpe’s Sandra Mcewan was named winner of the Mobile Phone Award, for best image taken with a mobile phone. And leading the charge for New South Wales in other major categories, was Sydney’s Simone Osborne named winner of the Illustrative Category for digitally-manipulated images for “Red Riding Hood”, and Callie Chee who was selected as CEO’s Choice for her image “Refuge”.
Heritage Bank CEO Mr Peter Lock said the competition continued to enjoy immense popularity, attracting over 2,300 entries from across Australia.
“We’re proud to see the success of the Awards continue for over three decades and counting,” Mr Lock said.
“The Awards celebrate the art of photography by encouraging people to get creative and share their unique perspectives and stories.”
“We’ve focussed on making them as accessible and as inclusive as possible through free entry and categories for people across Australia to take part in, no matter their age, or level of experience.”
“Our judges had a tough time choosing from so many quality images. Thank you to each and every person who took the time to submit their entries. It’s an honour for us to shine a spotlight on your work and share your talents on a bigger stage.”
Heritage also announced a special accolade to one entrant, the Graham Burstow Award. Chief Judge Graham Burstow, who was an instrumental part of the Photographic Awards since they first began 34 years ago, sadly passed away a few weeks ago, just after the completion of judging for this year’s awards.
Mr Burstow gave a rare perfect “10” score to the image ‘Flight of Fancy’ taken by Graham Bowden of Kallangur in Queensland.
Once again, Heritage has acquired the top five winning entries – Open Category, Themed Category “Belonging”, Illustrative Category, CEO’s Choice, Mobile Phone Award – to become part of its corporate art collection.
The winners of all categories are listed below:
Open Category:
| Winner | Ray Jennings, Legana Tas “Don’t fence me in” |
| Runner-up | Lucia Staykov, Athelstone SA “Childhood Joy” |
Themed Category: “Belonging”:
| Winner | Sue Mayer-Miller, Shoal Point Qld “Unconditional” |
| Runner-up | Rochelle James, Brightview Qld “Many hands raise a baby” |
Illustrative Category winner:
Simone Osborne, Collaroy NSW “Red Riding Hood”
Mobile Phone Award:
Sandra Mcewan, Stanthorpe Qld “Golden Pyramid”
CEO’s Choice:
Callie Chee, Ryde NSW “Refuge”
Youth Photographer Awards:
| 9 years and under | Elsbeth, Toowoomba Qld “We bee-long together” |
| 10-13 years | Lillian Milner, North Ryde NSW “Frogs in love” |
| 14-17 years | Sidney Crawshaw, Tannum Sands Qld “All eye need to know” |
Alwyn Kucks Memorial Award (entrants residing within a 50km radius of Toowoomba):
Paula Heelan, Gehan Qld “The Drover”
Graham Burstow Memorial Award:
Graham Bowden, Kallangur Qld “Flight of Fancy”
Winner and finalist images can be viewed on the Heritage Bank website from 14 September at https://www.heritage.com.au/photocomp.
