Karen Zalamea Named Winner of 2025 Barbara Spohr Memorial Award

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Karen Zalamea (courtesy Banff Centre)

Filipino-Canadian photographer Karen Zalamea has been named as the winner of the 2025 Barbara Spohr Memorial Award for Photography.

“This prize, established by the friends and family of the late Canadian artist Barbara Spohr, awards a mid-career artist whose work has made a significant contribution to the field of contemporary Canadian photography,” according to a news release from Walter Phillips Gallery at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.

Zalamea will receive a fully funded four-week residency, worth more than $7,000, at the Banff Centre's Leighton Artist Studios. She will also present a free talk about her work on Feb. 28, 2025 at the Banff Centre.

Born in Vancouver and now living in Burnaby, British Columbia, Zalamea is an artist and educator who uses photography “as a means to explore issues of identity, culture, and memory,” according to the release. She plans to use the time at Banff Centre to pursue cyanotypes.

Previously a biennial prize, the Barbara Spohr Memorial Award will be given out every year, starting this year. It is open for submissions from any Canadian mid-career artist with a substantial exhibition history in photography.

Source: Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity

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