Mullins Conceptual Photography Prize 2025: Finalist

Ali Tahayori

14 Aug - 11 Oct 2025

The Mullins Conceptual Photography Prize seeks artist entities that challenge the viewer via the illustration of a concept rather than being merely illustrative or representational.

The Australian Photographic Society’s Mullins Conceptual Photography Prize is a national $30,000 acquisitive prize that seeks to find Australia’s best conceptual photographic works. Finalists of the prize are exhibited annually at Muswellbrook Regional Arts Centre with the prize-winning work joining the Muswellbrook Shire Art Collection, and a collection of contemporary photographic works acquired through the Muswellbrook Photographic Award (1987 – 2014). Means of work presentation are unrestricted, inviting photographers to illustrate the intent of their works through a myriad of mediums.

‘History repeats itself’ is an image of my maternal ancestor. The archival photograph has been printed on glass, broken, and then reassembled to reflect the word “History”. Using glass instead of paper as a foundation to reveal the visual content references wet plate negatives in the history of photography, where they were used for “sharper” images. Similar to a broken mirror, the reflective broken glass returns the viewer’s gaze, reflecting on history and memory through a queer diasporic lens.

2025 Mullins Conceptual Photography Prize
Muswellbrook Regional Arts Centre