Announcing the 2021 Aperture Portfolio Prize Shortlist

Aperture’s support of emerging photographers and other lens-based artists is a vital part of our mission. The annual Aperture Portfolio Prize aims to discover, exhibit, and publish new talents in photography—identifying contemporary trends in the field and highlighting artists whose work deserves greater recognition. This year, Aperture’s editors reviewed over 1,200 submissions, and we are thrilled to announce the shortlisted artists for the 2021 Aperture Portfolio Prize:

William Camargo
Chance DeVille
Jarod Lew
Anouchka Renaud-Eck
Donavon Smallwood

These artists join the ranks of illustrious artists shortlisted for the Portfolio Prize in past years, including Dannielle Bowman, Jessica Chou, Eli Durst, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Natalie Krick, Jack Latham, Daniel Jack Lyons, Mark McKnight, Drew Nikonowicz, Sarah Palmer, Bryan Schutmaat, Ka-Man Tse, and Guanyu Xu.

The 2021 Portfolio Prize winner, to be announced on Friday, May 14, will be published in Aperture magazine, receive a $3,000 cash prize, and present an exhibition at Baxter St at the Camera Club of New York. Each runner-up will receive an online feature.

This year, alongside the five shortlisted artists, Aperture’s editors selected twenty finalists. The finalists and shortlisted artists will each receive a virtual portfolio review session with an Aperture editor, providing thoughtful and constructive feedback on their work.

The twenty finalists are:

Bryan Anselm, Rachelle Bussières, Amarise Carreras, Ronghui Chen, Golden, Jon Henry, Wing Ka Ho, Kovi Konowiecki, Michal Luczak, Spandita Malik, Steven Molina Contreras, Laura Pannack, Miraj J Patel, Ginevra Shay, C. Rose Smith, Elliott Verdier, Marianne & Katarzyna Wasowska, Wei Zihan, Amani Willett, and Zhidong Zhang.

William Camargo, We Gonna Have to Move Out Soon Fam!, 2019, from the series Origins & Displacements: Making Sense of Place, Histories & PossibilitiesChance DeVille, Mom in a Dream, 2020, from the series David’s MarkJarod Lew, The Tethers of Love (Eugene, Miyi, and Qun), 2020, from the series Please Take Off Your ShoesAnouchka Renaud-Eck, Girls Surrounded by Boys, 2020, from the series ArdhanarishvaraDonavon Smallwood, Untitled, 2020, from the series Languor
All images courtesy the artists