Contact Festival will close with the first annual Scotiabank Photography Award, a $50,000 prize

The Contact Photography Festival is underway, and with so many Toronto galleries participating, it’s difficult to see every exhibit. But sometimes seeing the best of the bunch is better than seeing a string of sometimes unsuccessful shows, which is why we’re excited that Contact will be crowning Canada’s next big art star at its first annual Scotiabank Photography Award ceremony at Scotia Plaza on May 18. Chairman of the award Edward Burtynsky may have built his career on a Linhof camera, but one of three finalists—Vancouver’s Roy Arden, Montreal’s Lynne Cohen and Toronto’s own Robin Collyer—will get to build their career with help from the $50,000 cash prize.

The award celebrates “excellence and inventiveness in photographic narrative and art form” and “singularity of vision integrated with the highest level of technical expertise and quality production,” which translates to “artists at the top of their class.” Along with the money, the prize includes a Steidl-published book of the artist’s repertoire (to be distributed worldwide) and a curated Contact exhibit, which means we can look out for the winning work at next year’s festival. Until then, we at least have the awards to look forward to, which will make up for our typical picture perfect Wednesday nights.