[June 30, 2020]

It was practically impossible for the 10th Scotiabank Photography Award, with its $50,000 prize, not to go to a woman, as seven nominees out of the eleven were female. From the all-woman list of finalists, it was Dana Claxton, a Vancouver artist known for her themes of Indigenous beauty, the body, and the spiritual, who was ultimately chosen. Since the very first winner (Lynne Cohen), the award has gone six times to a woman, almost uninterrupted since 2015 (the exception, Stephen Waddell, was the recipient in 2019). In addition to the cash prize, Claxton will have an exhibition during the CONTACT festival in 2021 and a monograph produced by renowned publisher Steidl. The two other finalists were Emmanuelle Léonard, of Montreal, and Jin-me Yoon, also of Vancouver.