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Submission guide

Presented by Benrido Atelier, the Hariban Award combines a 160-year-old analogue technique with the new vision of digital-age photography. Professionals and amateurs alike are invited to submit black and white photographs for a chance to win this remarkable award.

About Collotype

Collotype, a printing process developed in France approximately 160 years ago, a printing technique invented during the dawning era of alternative process and printing. The distinctive merit of its continuous tone, which makes it capable of minute expressions, and its archival ability, have been used as a reproduction technique for the preservation, exhibition and research of Japanese cultural assets since its introduction in Japan more than a century past.

About Benrido Atelier

Established in Kyoto in 1887, Benrido Atelier brings over a century of experience to image- making. Along with local papermakers and bookbinders, the Benrido craftsmen have upheld a tradition of superior Kyoto artisanship for more than a century, creating and preserving thousands of national treasures and works of art. As one of the world’s last remaining producers of collotype, Benrido offers rare access to this lost craft, providing opportunities for today’s artists to collaborate with the atelier’s master printers in making unique fine art prints.

What winners receive

Grand Prize Winner

Two-week residency
The imperial capital of Japan for more than a thousand years, today the city of Kyoto is the last bastion of many traditional arts and artisan crafts. In autumn/winter 2020, the Grand Prize Winner of the Hariban Award will travel to this major cultural heritage site. Flights and accommodation expenses will be paid.

Benrido Experience & Collotype Prints
While in Kyoto, the Grand Prize Winner will collaborate with master printers of the Benrido Collotype Atelier. Working closely with printers of superlative technical expertise, the artist will enjoy a rare opportunity to participate personally in the complex process of collotype printing and will produce of eight museum-quality collotype prints of their winning photographs.

Solo Exhibition 2021
The Grand Prize Winner’s collotype prints will be exhibited in a solo exhibition of their works in 2021. Previous venues have included: Kousei-in Temple (Awoiska van der Molen solo exhibition, 2014), Sfera Exhibition (Antony Cairns solo exhibition, 2015), Hakusasonso Hashimoto Kansetsu Garden & Museum – Zonkoro (Claudio Silvano solo exhibition, 2016), Kiyomizu-dera Temple – Jojuin (Stephen Gill solo exhibition, 2017), Hurin-an (Esther Teichmann solo exhibition, 2018), Noguchi Residence – Karaku-an (Margaret Lansink solo exhibition, 2019).

Competition Catalogue 2021 All finalists will receive a catalogue for the award printed in collotype and hand-bound by traditional binders in Kyoto, Japan.

Juror’s Choice Award

Selected by each Juror, an applicant will be selected from the pool of submissions by each Juror as their nomination for the Juror’s Choice Award. The Juror’s choice award winners will receive a dedicated text by their respective Jurors that will be printed and published along with a selection of their work in the annual Hariban Award Catalogue. All Juror’s Choice winners will also receive copies of the limited-edition award catalogue for their personal use.

Master Printer’s Choice Award

Selected by the atelier’s master printer, Osamu Yamamoto, the Master Printer’s Choice award winner will receive a dedicated text written by Yamamoto and will have an image printed and published in the annual Hariban Award catalogue. The Master Printer’s choice award winner will also receive copies of the catalogue for their personal use.

Honourable Mentions

Six runners up from the final round of judging will be given honourable mentions. An image of their submitted work will be printed and published within the official Hariban Award catalogue. The runners up will also receive copies of the catalogue for their personal use.

How to enter

• Generate your submission form
• Complete payment via picter.com

Entry fees

Early Entry Fee (April 15 to May 10, 2020)

• 40USD Per Individual Entry

Standard Entry Fee (May 11 to June 30, 2020)

• 50USD Per Individual Entry

Ma Quan, Professor, Designer & Artist
Ma Quan is a Professor and Doctoral Supervisor at the Department of Visual Communication Design, Academy of Arts & Design, Tsinghua University. He has been constantly committed to exploring the possibility of spatial narrative and transboundary design; he has more than 30 years of design education experience. He published books including “Visual Reconstruction of the City”, articles and papers related to visual design in urban space, and carried out a large number of practical activities and researches related to urban space visual design. In the past decade, Dr. Ma has successively used integrated media including ink, devices, image, music, prints to create experimental projects.

Emma Bowkett, Director of Photography FT Weekend Magazine
Emma Bowkett is Director of Photography at the FT Weekend Magazine. She has curated exhibitions for the Triennale der Photographie Hamburg, Peckham 24 and an exhibition with young Londoners as part of the Create Jobs programme. She is a university Associate Lecturer at London College of Communication (LCC), and regularly participates at international workshops, portfolio reviews, festivals, art fairs and awards. She is part of Magnum Photos Professional Practice, which supports young and emerging photographers. She won the inaugural Firecracker Contributors Award.

Felix Hoffmann, Chief Curator｜C/O Berlin
Felix Hoffmann is an art historian and art theorist, and is currently Head Curator of the C/O Berlin Foundation. He is the initiator of C/O Berlin’s Talents program for young photographers and art critics, and has acted as curator of numerous international exhibitions including Nan Goldin (2009), Robert Mapplethorpe, Peter Lindbergh (2011), Gordon Parks (2014) or Araki (2018), and group shows like The Last Image: Photography and Death (2019) or The Uncanny Familiar- Images of Terror (2011). He has also published numerous books and texts.

Lucy Gallun, Curator｜MoMA
Lucy Gallun is Associate Curator in the Department of Photography at The Museum of Modern Art, New York. She has curated or co-curated multiple exhibitions for the Museum including Being: New Photography 2018; Projects 108: Gauri Gill (at MoMA PS1); Unfinished Conversations: New Work from the Collection; Nan Goldin: The Ballad of Sexual Dependency; Ocean of Images: New Photography 2015; Soldier, Spectre, Shaman: The Figure and the Second World War; and Art on Camera: Photographs by Shunk-Kender, 1960–1971; and collaborated on many others. Lucy is also co-editor of Photography at MoMA, a three-volume history of photography at the Museum.

Judging process

First Round
All four Juror’s take part in the First round of Judging. Points are given to each submission from a 0 – 5 star rating. The submissions which pass the First Round of Judging from the accumulation of points will proceed onto the Final Round. All judging will be carried out individually online by each Juror.

Final Round
All four Juror’s will take part in the Final Round of Judging to determine the Grand Prize Winner and Finalists. Points are given to each submission within the Final Round of Judging from a 0 – 5 star rating. The submission with the highest overall points from the accumulated scores from all four jurors will be awarded the Grand Prize. The Judging will be carried out individually online by each Juror.

FAQ

Q. Can I submit more than 12 photos by completing more than one entry form?

A. No. Each artist is limited to one entry.

Q. Should I submit twelve photos from one series, or can I include work from a variety of projects?

A. The selection of photos is entirely yours, however in our opinion, a coherent series generally makes a stronger impression.

Q. May I submit photos depicting nudity or other controversial subjects?

A. We will gladly accept any images that are not blatantly exploitative or overtly offensive.

Q. Will you accept analogue submissions such as slides?

A. Unfortunately, we are only able to accept digital images submitted using our online form. (All submissions must be made digitally regardless of whether shot on analogue or digital).

Q. What are the details of the winner's trip to Kyoto?

A. The recipient of the HARIBAN AWARD will receive an expenses-paid trip to Kyoto for two weeks in autumn/winter 2020 to work with the Benrido printers. The prints will be exhibited in the winners solo exhibition in 2021 *For the exhibition the artist will be responsible for his or her own travel expenses to attend the exhibition. The exact date for the exhibition is to be announced.