The Ballarat International Foto Biennale is thrilled to present GradFoto 2025

This award celebrates the artistic excellence of graduating students, open to emerging contemporary artists from selected institutions whose artistic practice includes photography. The GradFoto Award showcases the high calibre of photographic work by graduates to new audiences across Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand, and beyond, creating connections for them as they begin their artistic careers. Graduating students of diploma, bachelors, honours and masters programs are eligible to apply.

All applicants will have their submissions reviewed by carefully by Daniella Zalcman. Up to 20 finalists will be selected and have their work exhibited online in the GradFoto 2025 exhibition. Judges will award one cash prize of AUD $1,000 to the overall winner. The winner of the GradFoto 2025 will also develop industry connections at the onset of their career through consultation with Ballarat Foto. Another finalist will be awarded one cash prize of AUD $500 for the People’s Choice Award, as voted by the public throughout the GradFoto 2025 exhibition.

Graduating students from the following institutions in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand are eligible to apply:

• ANU School of Art and Design
• Auckland University of Technology
• Canberra Institute of Technology
• Canberra School of Art
• Charles Darwin University
• Charles Sturt University
• Curtin University
• Collarts
• Deakin University
• Dunedin School of Art
• Edith Cowan University
• Elam School of Fine Arts, University of Auckland
• Federation University Australia
• Griffith University
• LCI Melbourne
• Melbourne Polytechnic
• Monash University
• Murdoch University
• National Art School
• North Metropolitan Tafe
• Oxygen College
• Photography Studies College
• Queensland College of Art
• RMIT University
• Swinburne University of Technology
• Sydney College of the Arts
• TAFE New South Wales
• TAFE Queensland
• Te Kura Kōwaiwai Ilam School of Fine Arts, University of Canterbury
• Toi Rauwhārangi College of Creative Arts, Massey University
• UNITEC
• University of New South Wales
• University of Southern Queensland
• University of Tasmania
• University of Technology Sydney
• University of Western Australia
• University of Wollongong
• Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne
• Whitecliffe College of Art and Design
• Whitehouse Institute of Design

If you do not see your institution listed here and would like to enter, please email Education & Public Engagement Coordinator Christine McFetridge at education@ballaratfoto.org.

• Apply Now

How to Apply

Selecting your images

Before you begin your submission, take a look at previous GradFoto Award finalists to understand how you might present your project for judging.
View past GradFoto Award Online Exhibitions

Applications tips:

• Put your best work forward. The judge(s) will likely be unfamiliar with your project/portfolio so be sure to submit your strongest images.
• Consider how your images interact together. For example, depending on your project/portfolio, a tight sequence of 10 images may be more compelling than 20 images that are very similar to each other.
• Your project statement is like an artist statement, except it describes the project you’re submitting rather than your broader creative practice. Find some tips for writing your statement on the Creative Independent.
• You might like to ask a family member or friend to look over your application before you submit.

Preparing your image files

• You can submit between 1 and 20 images of your project.
• You are encouraged to include visual material that best represents your project. For example, your submission might include photographs, images of artworks engaging photography, exhibition installation documentation or photobook documentation.
• Please provide your images as jpeg files sized to 2000 px on the longest edge at 300 dpi.
• Your images must be saved with your name, the title of the series or individual image title and sequence number as the file name e.g. JohnCitizen_BallaratSunrise_1.jpg.
• Please nominate one hero image by noting it in the file name e.g. JohnCitizen_BallaratSunrise_1_HERO.jpg. If your entry is shortlisted, this image will be used in Ballarat Foto social media posts.
• Image files can be no smaller than 2 MB and no larger than 10 MB.

Additional information you’ll need to provide

As a part of your submission, you’ll also need to provide Ballarat Foto with:

• Personal information, including your name and contact details
• The name of the program and institution you’re graduating from
• A project title
• A project statement (maximum 200 words), and
• A biographical statement (maximum 200 words).

If you have any questions about your submission, please email Education & Public Engagement Coordinator Christine McFetridge at education@ballaratfoto.org.

Judge

Daniella Zalcman is a Vietnamese-American documentary photographer based in New Orleans, LA. She is a Catchlight Fellow, a multiple grantee of the National Geographic Society and the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, a fellow with the International Women’s Media Foundation, and the founder of Women Photograph, a nonprofit working to elevate the voices of women and nonbinary visual journalists. Her work tends to focus on the legacies of western colonization, from the rise of homophobia in East Africa to the forced assimilation education of Indigenous children in North America. Daniella is also currently a Professor of Practice at Tulane University.

Photograph by Taylor Mickal.

Apply Now

Applications Open: Now
Applications Close: 23 November 2025, 11.59PM AEDT
Finalists Contacted: 9 December 2025
Online Exhibition and Winner Announced: 12 December 2025
People’s Choice Winner Announced: 6 February 2026

Ballarat Foto is open to alternative application formats to improve the GradFoto Award’s accessibility. Please email Education & Public Engagement Coordinator Christine McFetridge at education@ballaratfoto.org or call (+61) 3 5331 4833 to discuss how we can best support you.

• Apply Now

Image: Lê Nguyên Phương, Vở ô ly, 2024. Winner GradFoto 2024.