New $50K Canadian photo prize announced

A new $50,000 competition for Canadian contemporary photographers will be launched in September.

The prize was announced Wednesday by Scotiabank, which alsorevealed it has become the primary sponsor for Toronto's Contact Photography Festival.

The first Scotiabank Photography Prize will be awarded in 2011, with judging by a three-person panel chaired by renowned Canadian photographer Ed Burtynsky.

In addition to the cash prize, the winner will get a book contract with photographic art publisher Steidland a feature exhibition in the following year's Contact Photo Festival.

The prize pot matches the annual Grange Prize, in which Canadian entrants compete with photographers from a different country every year. Thenew prize will be open only to Canadians.

Scotiabank has become a prominent supporter of arts events, including the Scotiabank Giller Prize and Nuit Blanche in Toronto. It has been involved with Contact for several years, supporting the exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art and featuring photography in its Toronto banking hall.

Contact is an annual month-long photography festival in Toronto, established in 1997 by a group of photographers who wanted to celebrate their art.

The new partnership with Scotiabank is a "massive step forward" for the festival because it provides stable funding, said Contact executive director Darcy Killeen.

Contact is scheduled for May 1 to 31 in Toronto. The festival features both professional and amateur photography from around the world.