Kilkenny photographers shortlisted for 'major new national award'

Kilkenny photographers Xuying Li and Blaise Smith have been shortlisted for the inaugural Taylor Wessing Irish Photo Prize, a major new national award celebrating outstanding contemporary photography being made in and from Ireland.

Announced by Photo Museum Ireland, the prize recognises exceptional photographic work responding to the 2026 theme Community – 'Ar scáth a chéile a mhaireann na daoine – it is in each other’s shadow that we live.'

Selected from a nationwide open call that received over 1,300 entries, Li and Smith are among 33 photographers shortlisted from across Ireland, whose work presents diverse and powerful responses to the theme. Spanning documentary, portraiture, conceptual and experimental practice, the selected works reflect the vitality of photography in Ireland today, offering nuanced perspectives on belonging, identity and collective experience.

READ NEXT: 'A great honour' - big name given huge role for the Kilkenny St Patrick’s Day Parade

The exhibition opens at Photo Museum Ireland from April 22nd to May 24th. The winners of the Taylor Wessing Irish Photo Prize will be announced in a major awards presentation on opening night, where the first prize winner will be awarded €10,000, two runners-up awarded €2,500 each, and thirty shortlisted artists will receive an exhibition honorarium award. The winner of the Taylor Wessing Irish Photo Bursary will also be announced on the night.

Presented in partnership with Taylor Wessing, Photo Museum Ireland and Business to Arts, the Prize establishes a major new national platform for photography, offering unprecedented visibility and support for artists at all stages of their careers. As the largest combined prize fund for contemporary photography in Ireland, the initiative marks a significant investment in the country’s cultural life.

The exhibition brings forward work that is ambitious, socially engaged and deeply rooted in lived experience, foregrounding perspectives that expand how community is seen, represented and understood. Together, the selected photographs offer a timely portrait of contemporary Ireland shaped by connection, creativity and shared experience.

READ MORE: Muckalee LGFA secure more success following historical year for the Kilkenny club