taylor wessing irish photo prize 2026
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