People nominee

For many Australians, annual holidays involve a decamping of life to the beach, a settling into new rules and routines, and becoming part of that most interesting transition zone where the land meets the ocean. The air-water interface plays tricks on the eyes, the camera responds differently in the portrayal of emotional tone; being engulfed in the turbulent surf often transforms the photographer’s view in unexpected ways. Memories of youth seen through the prism of a turbulent adult life can be sharp or fractured, soft or harsh: often simplified, idealised and abstracted.

Karen Lunney is a contemporary photographic artist working out of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Her work investigates states of transition, liminal space, a place of possibility, where one thing has ceased and another not yet started. The light of dawn and dusk, the ocean-land interface and the migration of animals all represent forms of liminality. The cultural transitions of peoples forced to westernise, not sure what culture to save into their new modernity and the climatic changes causing paroxysms around the globe both produce uncertainties for the future with consequences for many.
Awards
AX3 Photographer of the Year 2014
Finalist in the Lensculture Exposure Awards 2015
International Wildlife Photographer of the Year (IPA), 2014
International Nature Photographer of the year (IPA), 2014
A Lucie Awards Nominee (IPA), 2014
Fourth in the professional photojournalism category of the 2013 and fourth in the wildlife category of the 2014 International Loupe Awards.
Finalist in the 2014 Smithsonian Photographic competition,
Finalist in the 2014 and 2015 HIPA
Finalist in the 2014 Natural History Museum Wildlife Photographer of the Year Awards,
Finalist in the 2014 Doug Moran Contemporary Photography Award.