Open Eye Gallery: 2023 Liverpool City Region Photo Awards Winners

LAUNCH EVENT: 10 MARCH / 6–8PM / RSVP

Open Eye Gallery and Liverpool City Region Combined Authority are presenting the 2023 Liverpool City Region Photography Awards Winners Exhibition. The competition was announced in November, and in two months we received over 1900 images, proving that Liverpool City Region is truly a place for photographers!

The judges have chosen 11 category winners and 33 commended submissions, which will make up the physical exhibition, as well as the photographs that received a special mention from the judges (jurors’ choice). An image from every entry will also be featured in the Digital Window Gallery exhibition. The overall winner will be announced on the opening night. 

These photographs tell impressive stories, be it the joy of a football game, personal stories of love, grief and gratitude, buzz of everyday urban life, quiet trips to be in nature or journeys to the most exotic places. From portrait to landscape, from still life to wildlife they show the power of a photograph: to bring us nearer to things we miss, to communicate beyond language, and connect instantly.

The exhibition opens 10 March, 6–8 PM, with drinks and music from Dance for Plants. 

2023 Liverpool City Region Photo Awards was created by Open Eye Gallery and Liverpool City Region Combined Authority to celebrate the culture, creativity and vibrancy across our city region — we want to make some noise about the talent living right here. Submissions were open to anyone living in the Liverpool City Region. The prize fund is £1,600, and there are also special prizes: Darkroom membership from dot-art, stay and breakfast at INNSiDE Liverpool, and Darkroom materials from Harman Technology.

Speaking about choosing the winners and curating the exhibition, the judges say:

Craig Easton, Photographer, Overall Winner of the 2021 Sony World Photography Awards said: It has been fascinating to see the breadth and diversity of work from photographers of all kinds across the Liverpool City Region: from social documentary to fashion and wildlife to sports, I’m delighted to see how much people are engaging with photography in the region and thinking about the pictures they make.

Mariama Attah, Judge for the 2022 Sony World Photography Award, Head of Exhibitions Open Eye Gallery: The LCR Photo Awards celebrates not only the photographic talent in the region, but also the deep love and personal approaches of how photography can be used. The images here show the range and imagination of visual culture, forming an impressive and reflective inaugural exhibition.

Lindsay Taylor, Judge for 2021 Sony World Photography Awards, Curator, University of Salford Art Collection: It was truly a privilege and delight to be invited to judge these awards. It was wonderful to see so much creativity, inspiration and talent from across the city region. Congratulations to everyone who took part!

Sarah Lovell, Lead Officer – Culture Coordinator, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority: This is the first year we have held these Awards and we have been blown away by the response and quality of the entries!  We hope this will be a regular event and that it will inspire a whole new generation of photographers from the Liverpool City Region.

The competition categories are as follows:

People and Places. Telling stories of populated spaces – how does an environment influence a culture and how do people change a place?

Still Life. Showing how an arrangement of things can elevate them and how stillness can become sculptural.

Living sustainably. The stories of lifestyles conscious of the environment and our place in it.

Sport. The faces of victory and the poise of an athlete can pass in a moment unless a sharp eye manages to catch them.

Portrait. A portrait is how we learn about something though human context — what are the stories a face can tell?

Urban Living. What does living in the city look like? Stories of culture and lived experience.

Creative. What photography can look like with different techniques and experiments?

Wildlife and Nature. Inspired by the wealth of biodiversity across the Liverpool City Region.