All you need to know about this new national award celebrating outstanding contemporary photography made in and from Ireland
Trish Lambe, CEO and Artistic Director of Photo Museum Ireland, describes the inaugural Taylor Wessing Irish Photo Prize as exciting and a defining moment for contemporary photography in Ireland. Not only does the prize establish a major new national platform for photography, offering unprecedented visibility and support for artists at all stages of their careers, it’s also the largest combined prize fund for contemporary photography in Ireland. The first prize winner will be awarded €10,000, two runners-up awarded €2,500 each and the 30 shortlisted artists will receive an exhibition honorarium award.
Polina Cosgrave, ‘Princes of Ballyfermot’ (2025)
Selected from an open call that received over 1,300 entries, the 30 shortlisted artists present diverse responses to the theme, Community – Ar scáth a chéile a mhaireann na daoine – it’s in each other’s shadow that we live. Spanning documentary, portraiture, conceptual and experimental practice, their works offer nuanced perspectives on ideas of belonging, identity and collective experience.
The works of the shortlisted artists will be on show at a special exhibition at the Photo Museum and offer a portrait of contemporary Ireland. Some of the shortlisted artists include: Niamh Barry, Missy Brinkmeyer, Conor Horgan, Chad Alexander, Salem Anowe Chukwuezi, Philip Arneill, Lisa Bennett, Deirdre Brennan, Michael Cassidy, Shane Hynan, JP Keating, Joe Laverty, Xuying Li, Jeanette Lowe, James Mahon, Jillian McGrath, Yvette Monahan, Emma O’Brien, Clodagh O’Leary, Mandy Blaise Smith and Laura Smith. The prize winners will be announced on April 22.
See the shortlist photographs below …
Ishmael Claxton, ‘Mood Indigo’ (2026)
Emily Roche, ‘Corporation Tax’ (2025)
Chris Reid, ‘Bonfires at Kilcooley Estate on the 11th July’ (2025)
Shane Coughlan, ‘Low tide’ (2025)
Lisa Bennett, ‘Gaeltacht’ (2025)
JP Keating, ‘Courtown Woods’ (2024)
James Mahon, ‘Storyboard’ (2024)
Yvette Monahan ‘Helen Keys in the summer fields, Mallon Farm Co. Tyrone’ (2024)
Need to know: Taylor Wessing Irish Photo Prize 2026 Exhibition runs from April 22 to May 24 at Photo Museum Ireland, Dublin. The exhibition is accompanied by a public programme of talks, tours and events, alongside national media coverage celebrating Irish photography at a pivotal moment in Ireland’s cultural life. @photomuseumirl
