Title Image

About

 

Presented by Benrido, the Hariban Award combines a 170-year-old analogue technique with contemporary photography. The award was launched in 2014 with the aim of introducing artists and photographers to collotype, an alternative photographic process. Glass plates have been used as collotype printing plates, which is why the award is called “Hariban” because “Hari” means glass plate, and “ban” means printing plate in Japanese. This Award invites professionals and amateurs alike to submit black and white photographs for a chance to win. The winners are carefully selected by a jury of international curators, publishers and artists in the field of photography. The Grand Prize Winner will be invited to a two-week residency in Kyoto, Japan, to collaborate with the master printers of Benrido.

BENRIDO & COLLOTYPE

 

Founded in 1887, Benrido opened its collotype atelier in 1905 and has specialised in the collotype printing technique for over 120 years. Today, collotype studios are rare in the world, but Benrido continues to produce fine colour collotype prints and works to pass the technique on to the next generation.

Collotype is an alternative printing process that was invented in 1855 by the French engineer Alphonse Poitevin as a method of photographic fine art printing. Photographic prints of the 19th century had poor image preservability and gradually faded and discoloured over time. To compensate for this, various printing methods using pigments were devised; one of the established techniques among them was collotype. Not only did it offer a high degree of preservation, but it also made it possible to produce a large number of prints as printmaking once the printing plate is pigmented. Collotype was put into practice by Joseph Albert in Germany and then widely used throughout the world, later being introduced to Japan from the USA.

PRIZES

 

Grand Prize

After a careful jury selection process, the work with the highest number of votes from all entries is selected as the Grand Prize Winner.

Two-week Residency 

– The Grand Prize Winner will collaborate with the Master Printer of the Benrido Collotype Atelier during the stay in Kyoto. Working closely with printers, the Winner will produce eight collotype prints of the award-winning works.

– The Grand Prize Winner will learn about the origins of the collotype and how it is made through the Collotype Academy’s collotype hand-printing workshop. The winner will receive one postcard-size plate and one 8×10 inch plate at the beginning of the workshop.
– An artist talk and social event will be held with Benrido’s staff and craftspeople.

Solo Exhibition

The 2025 Grand Prize Winner’s collotype prints will be exhibited in a solo exhibition held in the spring of the following year after their residency is complete.

Publication of the artwork in the official catalogue

The winner’s artwork will be included in the official catalogue of the Hariban Award 2025, to be published in April 2026.


*Flights, accommodation, and production expenses will be provided by Benrido. Details to be determined with the Grand Prize Winner.
*The 2025 Grand Prize Winner’s two-week residency in Kyoto will take place from October 2025.

Juror’s Choice Award

An applicant will be selected from the pool of submissions by each Juror as their nomination for the Juror’s Choice Award. The Juror’s Choice Award winners will receive a dedicated text by their respective nominators that will be printed and published along with a selection of their work in the official Hariban Award Catalogue. All Juror’s Choice Award winners will also receive copies of the limited-edition award catalogue for their personal use.


Extra Prize:
 

The Hariban Award 2025 will give an extra prize to the winner of the Juror’s Choice Award ― No tuition fee is required for a five-day course at the Benrido Collotype Academy. (Travel and accommodation expenses are not included in this award.)

Benrido Award

Selected by Benrido CEO Takumi Suzuki, the Benrido Award winner will receive a dedicated text written by Mr. Suzuki and will have an image printed and published in collotype within the official Hariban Award catalogue. The Benrido Award winner will also receive a copy of the catalogue for their personal use.

 

Extra Prize: 

The Hariban Award 2025 will give an extra prize to the winner of the Juror’s Choice Award ― No tuition fee is required for a five-day course at the Benrido Collotype Academy. (Travel and accommodation expenses are not included in this award.)

Honourable Mentions

After the winners of the Grand Prize, Juror’s Choice Award and Benrido Award have been selected, runners-up from the final round of judging will be given Honourable Mentions. An image of their submitted work will be printed and published within the official Hariban Award catalogue. The runners-up will also receive copies of the catalogue for their personal use.

For All Winner:
HARIBAN AWARD Official Catalogue 2025

All finalists will receive a catalogue for the award printed in collotype and hand-bound by traditional binders in Kyoto, Japan. The catalogue will be published in 2026.

APPLICATION INFORMATION

 

Application Period

1 April – 15 June 2025

* Applications must be received by 23:59 (JST) on 15 June 2025. Please note that the application form link will be closed after this time.
 

Qualifications

No qualifications required.

Subject

You can choose your own subject.

Required Number of Work

8 to 12 black and white photographs

*Minimum image size: 1500 px in length, 72 dpi, sRGB, Gray

Entry Fee

50 USD

<Early Bird Discount Period>
40 USD from 1 April to 30 April 2025. 

 *Entry fee will switch to 50 USD at 23:59 JST on 30 April 2025.
 
 

How to apply

  1. Click on “Apply” with the button or menu bar on the website.

  2. Log in to the application form hosted by Picter.

  3. Upload your images and fill in the required information.

  4. Complete the application after paying the application fee by credit card.

Please note that:
* You cannot temporarily save your application while it is in progress. Please prepare the information to be entered and the images in advance.
* Once an application has been submitted, it cannot be edited or cancelled.
* IMPORTANT: The deadline for applications is Japan Standard Time (30 June 2025, 23:59 JST), so please be aware of the time difference if you are applying from outside Japan. Applications received after the deadline will not be accepted.
 

Requirements for submitting

Profile

First name, last name
Birthday
Nationality
Postal address
E-mail
Website/Social media
Biography 
(max. 1500 characters)
CV

Project

Project title
Year of creation
Place of creation
Project description

Single image

Image title
Year of creation
Place of creation

Jurors

 

 

 

coming soon…

Judging Process

 

Judging

All entries will be judged by the jury. All judges will give each entry a score on a five-point scale, which will be added together at the end of the judging period. The entry with the highest overall score will be awarded the Grand Prize.

Tie-breaking Vote

A run-off vote will be held if more than one entry has the highest score after the first judging period. In the run-off, the judges give each entry a score on a five-point scale, similar to the previous judging round. The entry with the highest score will be awarded the Grand Prize. 

Juror’s Choice Award

After the Grand Prize has been awarded, each juror will select a Juror’s Choice Award from all entries except the Grand Prize Winner.

*Judging will take place online and will be done individually by each member of the jury. In addition, the six to nine other entries with the highest number of points will be selected for the Honourable Mentions.

Schedule

 

Call for submissions begins:
1 April 2025
    |
Call for submissions ends:
23:59 June 15, 2025 JST (Japan Standard Time)
    |
Judging will be closed to the public
*No shortlist will be announced. 
    |
Winner Announcement:

Early September 2025

 

Regarding Time Difference:
 
The applications will close following Japan Standard Time (JST). Please take the time difference into consideration should you be applying from outside of JapanApplications will not be accepted after the deadline has passed.
 

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Can I submit more than 12 photos by completing more than one entry form?

A. No. Each artist is limited to one entry.

Q. Should I submit twelve photos from one series, or can I include work from a variety of projects?

A. The selection of photos is entirely yours, however, in our opinion, a coherent series generally makes a stronger impression.

Q. Can works generated and created using Artificial Intelligence (AI) be submitted?

A. Yes. However, the copyright and all rights to the images used by the AI to generate the images have to be owned by the applicant.

Q. We create as a group. Can we apply?

A. Yes, one of you should apply as a representative of the group. However, if your group wins the Grand Prize, we can only cover the travel and accommodation costs for one person only. 

Q. May I submit photos depicting nudity or other controversial subjects?

A. We will gladly accept any images that are not blatantly exploitative or overtly offensive.

Q. Will you accept analogue submissions such as slides?

A. Unfortunately, we are only able to accept digital images submitted using our online form. (All submissions must be made digitally regardless of whether shot on analogue or digital).

Q. What are the details of the winner’s trip to Kyoto?

A. The recipient of the Hariban Award 2025 will receive an expenses-paid trip to Kyoto for two weeks from October 2025 to work with the Benrido printers. The prints will be exhibited in the winner’s solo exhibition in 2026.

* For the exhibition, the artist will be responsible for their own travel expenses to attend the exhibition.
* The exact date for the exhibition is to be announced once the residency is completed.

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