Arts·Photos

Meet the 2016 Scotiabank Photography Award nominees

Raymonde April, Geneviève Cadieux, Michel Campeau, Evergon, Michael Flomen and Pascal Grandmaison of Montreal will vie for the 2016 Scotiabank Photography Award. Rounding out the longlist are Jayce Salloum (Vancouver), Thaddeus Holownia (Sackville, NB), Moyra Davey (New York) and Suzy Lake (Toronto).

Six of this year's 10 nominees hail from Montreal

Odds are the best photographer in Canada lives in Montreal, because the 2016 Scotiabank Photography Prize longlist is here, and among the 10 nominees, six hail from Quebec's largest city. Raymonde April, Geneviève Cadieux, Michel Campeau, Evergon, Michael Flomen and Pascal Grandmaison of Montreal will vie for the award, which involves a $50,000 cash prize in addition to exhibitions at Toronto's Ryerson Image Centre and the 2016 Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival, as well as a book of their work published by Steidl.

Rounding out the longlist are Jayce Salloum (Vancouver), Thaddeus Holownia (Sackville, NB), Moyra Davey (New York) and Suzy Lake (Toronto). This March an expert jury will narrow the nominees into a three-person shortlist, after which a winner will be announced. Last year, the prize went to Angela Grauerholz, a 2014 Governor General Award recipient (who coincidentally, also lives in Montreal).

"Each of these distinguished artists has a distinctive body of mature work which reflects a high level of excellence in contemporary Canadian photography," said Edward Burtynsky of this year's longlist. The acclaimed photographer is Chair of the award's jury, and a co-founder of the prize, which began in 2010. Since then, it's become established as Canada's largest peer-nominated photography award, celebrating the work of artists who are mid or late career.

CBC Arts has collected a few key works from this year's nominees. Learn more about them, and the award, by visiting its official website.