A portrait of Ireland now: Inside the artists of the Taylor Wessing Irish Photo Prize
Artist Conor Horgan, winner of the inaugural Taylor Wessing Irish Photo Prize, pictured with his work EDGE at Photo Museum Ireland.
A portrait of Ireland now: Inside the artists of the Taylor Wessing Irish Photo Prize This week at Photo Museum Ireland artist and photographer Conor Horgan was announced as the winner of the inaugural competition The Taylor Wessing Irish Photo Prize exhibition at Photo Museum Ireland, facilitated by Business to Arts, brings together work by 34 Irish artists, selected from more than 1,300 submissions to the inaugural Taylor Wessing Irish Photo Prize. The exhibition offers a striking cross-section of photographic practice today, showcasing a wide range of approaches including documentary, street, portraiture and experimental photography, each grounded in lived experience across the country.
From Dublin’s canals to rural communities, the selected works respond to the theme of community with nuance and urgency, resisting a single definition in favour of something more complex, layered and real.
This week at Photo Museum Ireland artist and photographer Conor Horgan was announced as the winner of the inaugural Taylor Wessing Irish Photo Prize for his photograph from the series EDGE, receiving the top award of €10,000.
“This work is a personal response that bears witness to people seeking asylum being forced into homelessness by State policy,” says Horgan. “I was driven by a strong sense of injustice and a need to bring this situation to wider attention. While it shows attempts to exclude people from the national community, it also reveals smaller communities of mutual support, both within the camps and among those who came forward to help. I hope it encourages a greater sense of welcome, protection and dignity for those most in need.”Â
EDGE is Horgan’s response to the barriers that went up quietly along Dublin’s Grand Canal – metal frames were installed to prevent people seeking asylum from sleeping there. This compelling image does not document those directly affected. Instead, it focuses on the structures themselves, surfaces, obstructions and fragments of space, creating images that are deliberately indirect. The effect is unsettling. What is missing becomes as important as what is shown.
Working across photography, film and writing, Horgan has long explored identity and human connection. In EDGE, those concerns are sharpened through a distinctly contemporary Irish context. This prestigious award recognises a body of work that resists resolution, using restraint and ambiguity to reflect unresolved, complex physical, social and political issues.
Alongside the main award, two judges’ selection awards – each valued at €2,500 – were presented to Laura Dunwoody and Salem Anowe Chukwuezi, recognising two distinct and powerful perspectives on contemporary Ireland.
Laura Dunwoody’s series Nothing Lasts Forever centres on young people coming of age in Ballymun, a community often defined by unemployment, addiction and social issues. Dunwoody’s photographs offer a quieter, more personal perspective, shaped through her long-term engagement and collaboration with the local community.
Chukwuezi’s series Covert reflects the experience of growing up black in rural Ireland, where exclusion can be subtle, unspoken and easy to deny. Her photographs reflect that tension, making visible something that often goes unacknowledged.
Where the prize recognises a finished work, the bursary is oriented towards what comes next – supporting the development of a practice over time. Valued at €10,000, it was awarded to emerging artist Patryk Gizicki. His work explores youth culture and evolving ideas of identity and masculinity, offering a sharp and intimate view of how young people see themselves and each other today.
“Forever More explores youth, identity and the emotional landscape of growing up in a small town, rooted in my own experiences,” says Gizicki. “It reflects a community that is both close-knit and complex, where belonging and isolation can exist at the same time. Being part of the prize is an important moment of validation, giving the work a wider platform and allowing these stories to reach beyond their original context.”Â
Together, these awards represent a meaningful investment in photographic practice in Ireland – recognising excellence at the highest level, while also creating space for emerging voices to develop and grow.
“The Taylor Wessing Irish Photo Prize is a landmark development for Irish photography,” says Trish Lambe, the director of Photo Museum Ireland, “providing important support and recognition for Irish artists. This substantial commitment to contemporary Irish photography supports the work of Photo Museum Ireland, connecting audiences with great photography and strengthening its visibility nationally and globally.
“Selected by an international panel of experts, the shortlist exhibition reflects the strength and diversity of Irish photography. The inaugural shortlist exhibition on the theme of community showcases the diverse visual languages artists use to address resonant, contemporary issues, presenting them in meaningful, engaging ways.
“Photo Museum Ireland is delighted to partner with Taylor Wessing and Business to Arts on this major new national prize. The high standard of more than 400 entries from Irish artists is a testament to the flourishing of the contemporary photography ecosystem across the island of Ireland.”
 What remains most striking, however, are the images themselves: quiet, complex and often unresolved, offering ways of seeing that extend beyond the gallery and into how contemporary Ireland is understood.
The exhibition runs at Photo Museum Ireland until May 24th.
