James Bugg, a 22 year-old emerging photographer from Melbourne has won the 2018 Moran Contemporary Photographic Prize (MCPP). The MCPP is Australia’s richest photography prize and James took home the $50,000 prize for his photograph Zach. The announcement was made recently at Juniper Hall in Paddington, the home of the Moran Arts Foundation. The judges of the 2018 MCPP were photographer and curator Cheryl Newman, photojournalist and photo editor Jon Jones and Australian documentary artist Raphaela Rosella.

The judges also highlighted Isabella Moore’s ‘The Significance of Ceremony’ and Matthew Abbott’s ‘Wrestlers Cooling Off’ as Highly Commended.

James Bugg is based in Melbourne and his winning photograph is part of a wider series called ‘The Pines’. James recently graduated from the Photography Studies College Melbourne. The subject of his photograph is Zach, a resident of The Pines, an area South-East of Melbourne.  

The Moran Contemporary Photographic Prize (MCPP) was established in 2007 by the Moran Arts Foundation and it awards and promotes Australian contemporary photography and excellence in all its forms. This is the first year that the MCPP has been announced separately to the Doug Moran National Portrait Prize, which is awarded in October each year.

The Moran Contemporary Photographic Prize also includes student categories and this year’s Student Prizes were  judged by Louise Whelan, Nicki Jackson and Peter Edward. The winners of the Student Categories this year were Luca Johns from Eltham High School, VIC (Years 11-12), Noah Dawson from Newcastle High School, NSW (Years 9-10) and Claire Herbert from Mater Dei Catholic College, NSW (Years 7-8).

There is still time to see this exhibition which features the work of all thirty finalists. The Moran Contemporary Photography exhibition is on display at Juniper Hall, Paddington until this Sunday 27th May between the hours of 10am till 4pm.