The Aimia/AGO Photography Prize has become a pretty big deal in a pretty short time, just six years, in fact. It’s unique, too, in the annals of art awards in that its winner is chosen by public vote.
The short list of nominees for the annual prize was announced this week in Toronto and on Sept. 11 the Art Gallery of Ontario begins a nearly four-month exhibition of representative works by the four finalists, each of whom is vying for a top cash prize of $50,000. Previously the prize, honouring achievements in contemporary photography, was known as the Grange Prize, after the early-19th-century manor house that was the AGO’s original home, while the four finalists consisted of two Canadian photographers and two from a “partner country.” (Previous partners have included China, the U.K., Mexico and India.)
For 2013, the partner framework was jettisoned and an eight-person international panel assembled a long list of 14 nominees from around the world. From this pool, a three-person jury, headed by Elizabeth Wilson, former director of curatorial affairs for the AGO, chose the final four, with the stipulation that one had to be Canadian. Online voting can be done at AimiaAGOPhotographyPrize.com and the Prize’s Facebook page. Ballots also can be cast at the exhibition itself.
The winner is to be named Nov. 7. Each runner-up receives $5,000
Editor's note: an earlier version of this gallery said the AGO's former director of curatorial affairs is Elizabeth Wilson, not Elizabeth Smith. This online version has been corrected