Youth Photographic Award and Short Film Prize

 

Radiant Heart, Malatesta Viggo, Year 10, Inner Sydney High School

The Woollahra Youth Photographic Award and Short Film Prize celebrates the creativity of high school students from Year 7 to Year 12 in the local area. Running since 1994, the competition has showcased a broad range of images and short films from thousands of students over the years. With cash prizes totalling more than $2,000, this annual event is a local celebration of creative expression by our talented young people.

The 2025 exhibition will be held at the Woollahra Gallery at Redleaf from Wednesday 27 August to Sunday 14 September 2025.

Categories and Prizes

Photography

Junior category (Years 7, 8, 9)
First prize: $300
Highly Commended: $150

Senior category (Years 10, 11, 12)
First prize: $300
Highly Commended: $150

Open Categories (Years 7–12)

Mayor’s Choice
First prize: $300
Highly Commended: $150

People’s Choice
Voted by the public: $150

Short Film

Open category (Years 7–12)
First Prize: $400
Highly Commended: $200

View entry conditions information(PDF, 353KB)

Judges

The 2025 Youth Photographic Award and Short Film Prize judges are:

Tiyan Baker, Photographic judge,  Image Credit: Alfonse Chiu, 2023

Photographic Judge: Tiyan Baker, Artist

Tiyan Baker is an artist who works with installation, photography, video and sculpture. Centring her Bidayǔh culture in her works, Baker is interested in things she has unknowingly inherited. Living far from native lands, culture and family, in the midst of the (re)colonisation of Borneo, she explores all that can be mistranslated or lost, and what can manifest in its place. She has shown her works widely across Australia, and is the winner of the 2022 National Photography Prize awarded by the Murray Art Museum Albury.
She was born and raised on the Larrakia lands known as Darwin and currently lives and works on the Awabakal and Worimi lands known as Newcastle, Australia.

Samuel Lucas Allen, Short film judge

Short Film Judge: Samuel Lucas Allen, Writer and Director

Samuel Lucas Allen is an award-winning writer and director who works in film, theatre. Currently, Sam is in distribution for their film 'Cut', a coming-of-age drama about Faith, Queerness and the internet alt-right. 'Cut' had its Premiere at Vancouver international film festival. It won Best Short Fiction Film at Buenos Aires International Film Festival and Best Editing at Canberra short film festival and was nominated for best director and best short at the Melbourne queer film festival. Sam’s film 'After Saturn' a devised family drama, took home Best Short Director at the Kansas Arthouse Film Festival and was nominated for best director at CinniFest Oz and Best Score at St Kilda. 'Plastic' was nominated for Best Music Video and Best Experimental Film at the ATOM awards and Best Editing of a Music Video. 'Only The Beautiful' saw Sam nominated for Best Director at Sanford International Film Festival, and their first film, 'School Night', was nominated for a Robin Anderson Film Award. They are currently in postproduction for a new short and are in development for a TV show and Feature Film, all focusing on the theme of rebellion in the face of environmental calamity. Sam aims to continue working in theatre and film, focusing on newly devised films and developing new and established theatre work.