ROCKPORT, ME – Maine Media has announced Craig Easton as the recipient of the 2023 Arnold Newman Prize for New Directions in Photographic Portraiture, a $20,000 prize awarded annually by Maine Media to a photographer whose work demonstrates a compelling new vision in photographic portraiture.
The 2023 award recognizes photographer Craig Easton and his project BANK TOP, a photographic essay made in collaboration with writer, poet, and social researcher Abdul Aziz Hafiz. The project examines the portrayal and misrepresentation of northern communities in the United Kingdom and focuses on a small, tight-knit community in Blackburn, England.
Submissions to this year’s prize represented 36 countries, with artists of 74 different identified nationalities. This is the largest and most expansive group of submissions since the inception of the prize. View the 2023 winner and finalists and more of Craig’s work.
“The caliber and diversity of work submitted to the Arnold Newman Prize this year is a testament to the expanding, invigorating world of photographic portraiture,” said Elizabeth Greenberg, Maine Media’s Arnold and Augusta Newman Provost.
In addition to the prize itself, the 2023 winner and finalists are invited to participate in an installation with The Griffin Museum of Photography in Winchester, Massachusetts. Additionally, the winner is invited to and recognized at Maine Media’s Visionary Awards Dinner on September 30th, where highly esteemed artist and author Cig Harvey will also be honored as the 2023 Visionary Award recipient.
About the Winner: Craig Easton’s work is deeply rooted in the documentary tradition. Easton shoots long-term documentary projects exploring issues around social policy, identity, culture and community. Known for his intimate portraits and expansive landscapes, his work regularly combines these elements with reportage approaches to storytelling. He often works collaboratively with others to incorporate words, pictures and audio in a research-based practice that weaves a narrative between contemporary experience and history.
All images copyright Craig Easton.
