Territory: Other
Theme: Community
Eligibility: Irish or based in Ireland and Irish citizens abroad
Entry Fees: Free
Prize: Cash Prize
A New Landmark for Irish Photography
The Taylor Wessing Irish Photo Prize is a major new annual award established to champion the excellence, vitality, and diversity of contemporary photography in Ireland.
This prestigious prize, presented in partnership with international law firm Taylor Wessing, Business to Arts, and Photo Museum Ireland, creates a definitive national platform to showcase and celebrate new work by photographers and lens-based artists at all stages of their careers.
This initiative builds on Taylor Wessing's longstanding support of photography through its sponsorship of the Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait Prize since 2008 at the National Portrait Gallery in the UK.
The Taylor Wessing Irish Photo Prize aims to:
• Celebrate photographic excellence and originality in portraiture and beyond.
• Create inclusive opportunities for artists from underrepresented backgrounds.
• Promote and support photographic talent and development in Ireland.
• Deliver a dynamic, high-profile exhibition and engagement programme.
The Prize is the largest combined award fund dedicated to contemporary photography in Ireland.
The Prize intends to recognise one overall winner who will receive a €10,000 cash prize, and two runners-up who will each receive €2,500.
Their winning images will join the Taylor Wessing Irish Photo Prize collection and will hang in their Irish headquarters in Dublin.
An additional €10,000 bursary will be awarded to encourage inclusivity:
The Taylor Wessing Irish Photo Bursary 2026 is a €10,000 award established to support an artist working in photography or lens-based media who identifies as being from an underrepresented community.
The bursary aims to facilitate time and space through financial resources to enable the recipient to further develop their practice.
All shortlisted and winning entries will feature in a free public exhibition and engagement programme facilitated by Photo Museum Ireland.
The 2026 Theme: Community | Ar scáth a chéile a mhaireann na daoine
For its inaugural edition in 2026, the prize invites artists to explore the powerful and timely theme of "Community."
An old Irish proverb teaches us that "Ar scáth a chéile a mhaireann na daoine" — it is in each other's shadow that we live.
This speaks to a fundamental truth of Irish life: our identities are shaped by connection, interdependence, and shared experience.
In a time of profound global change, shaped by digital connectivity and a search for belonging, the concept of community is more essential than ever.
The Taylor Wessing Irish Photo Prize 2026 asks artists to share their unique visual reflections on what it means to live together in Ireland today.
We seek work that investigates the bonds – both visible and invisible – that tie us together.
We welcome submissions across all photographic genres, including portraiture, documentary, conceptual, and experimental practices.
We are particularly interested in projects that:
• Tell compelling stories about communal life and shared spaces.
• Explore the socio-political issues shaping modern Irish communities.
• Illuminate diverse, marginalised, or underrepresented perspectives.
• Articulate how we see ourselves and one another, revealing connection in an age of isolation.
• Utilise photography's unique power to document, question, and celebrate our collective existence.
Why Enter?
Winning the Taylor Wessing Irish Photo Prize is a significant career milestone.
It offers a unique opportunity to:
• Exhibit at a national institution: Feature your work in a major showcase at Photo Museum Ireland.
• Gain national & international exposure: Benefit from extensive press, digital, and marketing campaigns.
• Receive significant financial awards: Opportunity to win from a total prize fund of €25,000.
• Connect with key figures: Position your work before a national and international jury of curators, critics, and collectors.
• Develop your practice: Have your work professionally produced to museum standards.
Awards
• 1st prize: €10,000
• 2 runners-up: €2,500 each
• The overall winner and both runners up will also have their work acquired for the Taylor Wessing collection subject to their consent and approval.
• Up to 30 shortlisted artists: €100 honorarium each for exhibiting in the Taylor Wessing Irish Photo Prize showcase in April - May 2026.
