Artist and Queensland College of Art doctoral student Ray Cook has won the $10,000 William and Winifred Bowness Photography Prize for 2007.
His submission to the competition, a print titled For God sake, somebody throw a pie (2006), shows a tragic male figure posing in his boxer
shorts.
QCA photography lecturer Earle Bridger said the staging of the shot against a drop sheet was suggestive of traditional portraiture, but other elements within the image evoked conventions of comedy, farce and the absurd.
“He is clearly in some sort of pickle, sporting a clown’s red nose and an anti-lick dog collar, but it is difficult to know whether we should laugh or cry,” he said.
Cook lives in Brisbane and is currently completing his doctorate at QCA. Recent exhibitions have included Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane, and the Australian Centre of Photography, Sydney.
One of Australia’s most prestigious photographic awards, the prize was established to promote excellence in photography.