Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize 2025: MPB Photography Award Finalists Announced

With the Photography Award judging complete, we are thrilled to share the 25 MPB Photography Award Finalists of this year’s Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize! Our sincere thanks to this year’s Jury Panel, including esteemed creative photographer Nicolas Bruno for giving his time and expertise to this year’s judging process.

We received entries from both analogue and digital photographers working across various photographic styles. Using cutting edge camera, lens, housing, and lighting equipment, each photographer has shared their exceptional creative vision in unique ways. Brands and resources used include: Adobe Lightroom, Beautydishes, Broncolor, Canon, Elinchrom, Fujifilm, Fujinon, Godox, Hasselblad, Ikelite, Intrepid, iPro Max, Kamlan, Kentmere, Kiev 60, Kodak, Laowa, Leica, Lencarta, Lensbaby, Light, Logiciels Lightroom, Lomography, Lumecube, Mamiya, Mitakon Zhongyi Speedmaster, Nanlite Pavotube, Nikkor, Nikon, Octaboxes, Olympus, Panasonic, Pentax, PhaseOne, Polaroid, Polaroid Lab, Profoto, R.A. Goldmann, Ricoh GR III, Samyang, Sekor, Sigma, Schneider Kreuznach, Softbox, Sony, Tamron, Volna-3, Westcott, wetplates, Wista, Yashica LM, and ZEISS lenses. Additionally, many photographers hand built their own scenes and backgrounds, some even made their own analogue cameras, as well as including some truly wonderful outfits!

The Prizes

MPB Photography Award

The MPB Photography Award 1st prize winner will receive:

• $3,000 USD cash generously donated by MPB. Founded in 2011, MPB is the leading reseller of used digital cameras and lenses in the U.S. MPB changes the game by giving you the best prices and the most convenient way to buy, sell and trade used camera gear. With a circular business model, MPB extends the life and creative potential of camera gear by recirculating over half a million cameras and lenses a year. 
• A beautiful, specially commissioned glass art award trophy.
• 20×30 Epic Print + $250 Lab Credit (worth USD$672) by Bay Photo, the trusted partner for Photographers, Artists and Creatives since 1976. The Epic Print includes optional Frame and choice of display options.
• USD$250 worth of printing credit on C-Type Papers, generously donated by Spectrum. Established for nearly three decades, Spectrum is an imaging lab specialising in high quality fine art and photographic printing, mounting and exhibition services working with professional photographers and artists, art galleries, and museums the world over. Please note that prints will need to be 750mm or under on the shortest side, and shipping outside of the UK is not included. Any duties incurred are to be covered by the recipient. Credit applies to Studio printing only and must be used within one year of receipt.
• The opportunity to exhibit in the prestigious Beautiful Bizarre Magazine exhibition at Haven Gallery in Northport, NY, USA, alongside 70+ of the world’s best contemporary representational artists.
• Exposure to a successful commercial gallery’s collector base with the opportunity to sell their work.
• 3 month social media advertising package (Beautiful Bizarre Magazine: 2 million+ followers across all social media platforms).
• Winning artwork printed in the December 2025 issue of Beautiful Bizarre Magazine, as part of the Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize editorial.
• Exclusive in-depth interview published on the Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize and Beautiful Bizarre Magazine websites + shared across Beautiful Bizarre Magazine social media.
• Profile listing [including artwork gallery] on the Beautiful Bizarre Artist Directory for 12 months. The go-to platform for artists, curators and collectors to discover exceptional artists and explore their work.
• A year’s worth of inspiration – a print subscription to Beautiful Bizarre Magazine.

2nd prize winner will receive:

• $1,000 USD generously donated by MPB. Founded in 2011, MPB is the leading reseller of used digital cameras and lenses in the U.S. MPB changes the game by giving you the best prices and the most convenient way to buy, sell and trade used camera gear. With a circular business model, MPB extends the life and creative potential of camera gear by recirculating over half a million cameras and lenses a year. 
• 16×24 Epic Print + $200 Lab Credit (worth USD$532) by Bay Photo, the trusted partner for Photographers, Artists and Creatives since 1976. The Epic Print includes optional Frame and choice of display options.
• The opportunity to exhibit in the prestigious Beautiful Bizarre Magazine exhibition at Haven Gallery in Northport, NY, USA, alongside 70+ of the world’s best contemporary representational artists.
• Exposure to a successful commercial gallery’s collector base with the opportunity to sell their work.
• Exclusive in-depth interview published on the Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize and Beautiful Bizarre Magazine websites + shared across Beautiful Bizarre Magazine social media.
• Profile listing [including artwork gallery] on the Beautiful Bizarre Magazine Artist Directory for 12 months. The go-to platform for artists, curators and collectors to discover exceptional artists and explore their work.
• A year’s worth of inspiration – a print subscription to Beautiful Bizarre Magazine.

3rd prize winner will receive:

• $500 USD generously donated by MPB. Founded in 2011, MPB is the leading reseller of used digital cameras and lenses in the U.S. MPB changes the game by giving you the best prices and the most convenient way to buy, sell and trade used camera gear. With a circular business model, MPB extends the life and creative potential of camera gear by recirculating over half a million cameras and lenses a year. 
• 12×18 Epic Print + $150 Lab Credit (worth USD$389) by Bay Photo, the trusted partner for Photographers, Artists and Creatives since 1976. The Epic Print includes optional Frame and choice of display options.
• The opportunity to exhibit in the prestigious Beautiful Bizarre Magazine exhibition at Haven Gallery in Northport, NY, USA, alongside 70+ of the world’s best contemporary representational artists.
• Exposure to a successful commercial gallery’s collector base with the opportunity to sell their work.
• Exclusive in-depth interview published on the Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize andBeautiful Bizarre Magazine websites + shared across Beautiful Bizarre Magazine social media.
• Profile listing [including artwork gallery] on the Beautiful Bizarre Magazine Artist Directory for 12 months. The go-to platform for artists, curators and collectors to discover exceptional artists and explore their work.
• A year’s worth of inspiration – a print subscription to Beautiful Bizarre Magazine.

The Winners of the Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize will be invited to exhibit a work in the ‘Reverie’ exhibition in October 2025 at Haven Gallery. Winners may exhibit their prize winning entry if it was created within 12 months of the entry date, and not hung in any other exhibition or prize previously. Work already exhibited or hung in a Prize will not be accepted to the ‘Reverie’ exhibition. If the prize winning work is not eligible to be exhibited in the exhibition, or if the artist chooses, they may create a new work for the exhibition.

From the 175 Finalists across all Award categories, the Jury Panel will select the Grand Prize Award Winner.

The Grand Prize Award Winner of the 2025 Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize will receive:

• $10,000 USD cash, donated by our Platinum sponsors Catherine K. Gyllerstrom, MPB, RAYMAR, Yasha Young Projects, Victoria Olt Gallery, and Prof. Dr. Ulrich Seibert.
• A beautiful, specially commissioned glass art award trophy.
• The opportunity to exhibit in the prestigious Beautiful Bizarre Magazine exhibition at Haven Gallery in Northport, NY, USA, alongside 70+ of the world’s best contemporary representational artists.
• Exposure to a successful commercial gallery’s collector base with the opportunity to sell their work.
• 10 page in-depth interview editorial published in Beautiful Bizarre Magazine December 2025 issue.
• Winning artwork printed in the December 2025 issue of Beautiful Bizarre Magazine, as part of the Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize editorial.
• Exclusive in-depth interview published on the Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize and Beautiful Bizarre Magazine websites + shared across Beautiful Bizarre Magazine social media.
• Profile listing [including artwork gallery] on the Beautiful Bizarre Artist Directory for 12 months. The go-to platform for artists, curators and collectors to discover exceptional artists and explore their work.
• 12 month social media advertising package (Beautiful Bizarre Magazine: 2 million+ followers across all social media platforms).
• A year’s worth of inspiration – a print subscription to Beautiful Bizarre Magazine.

People’s Choice Award

The People’s Choice Award Winner will be selected by popular vote from the 175 Finalists [25 per Award category: Drawing, Digital Art, Photography, Sculpture and Emerging Artist Award, and 50 for the Painting Award category]. The People’s Choice Award Winner will receive $1,000 USD cash, generously donated by the Co-Founders of Beautiful Bizarre Magazine and a Deco Pro (Gen2) MW, generously donated by XPPen.

Voting will open on 22 August [AEDT, Australian Eastern Daylight Time]. To ensure you don’t miss your chance to vote, please join our email mailing list here.

Additionally, the People’s Choice Award Winner will enjoy a year’s worth of social media advertising through the Beautiful Bizarre Magazine to ensure they are able to connect with the right audience, raise their profile, and of course to grow their social media following. They will also enjoy a Profile listing [including artwork gallery] on the Beautiful Bizarre Artist Directory for 12 months, plus a 12 month Beautiful Bizarre Magazine print subscription, and an in-depth interview published on the Beautiful Bizarre Magazine and Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize websites, giving readers an insight into their vision and practice!

In addition, each sponsor will choose one outstanding work from their award category to receive an Honourable Mention. Stay tuned to learn more!

The Digital Art Award, RAYMAR Painting Award and Victoria Olt Gallery Drawing Award Finalists will be announced later this week. See the Emerging Artist Award Finalists here and the Yasha Young Projects Sculpture Award Finalists here.

So without further ado we are proud to announce the MPB Photography Award Finalists of the 2025 Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize…

MPB Photography Finalists

2025 Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize

Siren embodies my ongoing pursuit of merging makeup and fashion into a singular, otherworldly vision – where beauty is both wearable and sculptural. Photography becomes the final act: a way to freeze these fleeting creations in time. Through light, texture, and form, I aim to capture not just a look, but a moment where fantasy and craftsmanship collide.

The mountainous regions of rural Bulgaria have suffered heavy depopulation for the past 60 years. However for some reason the masked traditions have survived better than anywhere else in Europe. The long haired Kukeri from Strandzha area are the most ghostly Kukeri costumes I have seen in my country. While documenting the local Kukeri festival I spotted a pink roofless house and invited three of the masked dancers for a quick photoshoot. The image is part of my series Ghosts which document the Kukeri from the abandoned villages of Strandzha mountains.

This image is about strength in softness. It’s about showing up for each other, quietly, powerfully. The hand across her face feels like both protection and exposure. A moment where you’re holding space for someone else while still standing in your own light. “Protect” is part of my series Forms of Identity, which looks at the different ways we show who we are. It’s not loud, but it’s strong. A reminder that connection doesn’t need to be complicated, it just needs to be real.

My work confronts the loaded language of femininity – specifically the derogatory word “slut,” by dragging it through the wig of history and into stripper boots. Using Marie Antoinette as a decadent symbol of both indulgence and vilification, I re-frame the aesthetics of excess, sexuality, and rebellion to explore how the female body has long been both ornament and threat. In this series, cigarettes are in her hair, punk rock studs are everywhere. She pours pearls from her teapot. Smeared lipstick blurs the lines between elegance and eroticism, between object and agent. These aren’t just props- they are relics of survival in systems that punish female pleasure and visibility. I hope for the work to demand freedom through audacity.

A woman, nude but armed with a red cleaning brush, attempts to sweep back the sea. The gesture is futile, tender, and strangely heroic. “Taming the Tide” speaks to the quiet labor of women, the absurd expectations of control, and the instinct to heal even when the world resists. It’s about grief disguised as duty, and beauty forged in the effort.

In Kristin Sjaarda’s latest series Palindromes, her use of mirrors underscores an exploration of dualities, both in nature and perception, engaging with the playful complexity of symmetry and reflection. Just as a palindrome plays with words to form a symmetrical, peculiar phrase, these mirrored images invite the viewer to puzzle it out. There is no surface here, no gravity. Up is down and down is up, and the arrangement seems to float in an indeterminate space. The series is a stop along the way in Sjaarda’s ongoing, obsessive journey through the world of flowers, flower growers, and the various fauna that interact with and rely upon our extended environment, as well as an attempt to disrupt the typical narrative of floral still-life.

Throughout art history, male painters have often used the female form as a central subject, frequently portraying women as symbols of beauty, fertility, sensuality. Though these representations often reflected the male gaze, framing women as objects of desire rather than autonomous individuals. Goldstein reverses the dynamics by representing the female models that have themselves become iconic, even surpassing their creators. Interwoven flawlessly is social commentary and critique; The environment, social disparity and the human condition. Most significant is Dina’s passion for Women’s rights. “I have placed this elegant figure on the streets of the Downtown Eastside (DTES), known as the site of a complex set of social issues, including disproportionately high levels of drug use, and homelessness.“

This portrait explores the intimate connection between the human body and the natural world. Using real moss, butterflies, and florals, I transformed my subject into a living forest spirit a visual metaphor for symbiosis, vulnerability, and quiet power. Inspired by botanical surrealism and the emotional language of fine art photography, this work blurs the line between woman and wilderness, reminding us that nature does not exist outside of us it lives within us.

Anhel is Ukranian for Angel.

The years go by… and we keep creating stories, telling tales. We dream. Without sleeping.

In a world that often feels transient and ever-shifting, I find myself returning to the quiet constancy of connection, those enduring relationships with family and cherished friends who appear, time and again, along the path of my life. Clementine is part of a series titled ‘Side by Side’ and is a celebration of these anchors: the people who walk with us, sometimes near, sometimes far, but always present in the rhythm of our days. The work invites viewers to reflect on their own circles of support, the family members who know our stories, the friends who become chosen kin, the gatherings and reunions that mark the passage of time. In these relationships, I find a sense of home that is not tied to a single place, but to the presence of those who stand beside us.

She awakens at the bottom of a silent, dark sea, questioning the essence of her being. The blue kimono is a lingering dream of the living. The butterfly resting on her hair is a soul bidding farewell. The skeletal hand marks time that shall never return. And so she drifts eternally between this world and the next. This self-portrait explores the liminal thresholds of life and death, memory and oblivion, the visible and the unseen. Water becomes a vessel of remembrance, echoing a quiet elegy beneath its surface. In this stillness, the viewer is invited to gaze into their own depths. What lies beyond her vacant eyes? Perhaps we, too, are floating – suspended in invisible waters, uncertain yet present. This work seeks not to answer but to awaken, to stir different ripples in each inner sea.

She nurtures her youthful spirt and detaches from those that would destroy it.

This image is part of a project called ” Psyche” which in Greek it means butterfly and soul, cause in ancient times the human soul was represented by a butterfly. This project is analysing the relationship between soul and beauty through light painting, and a homage to my grandmother who reappeared to me as a butterfly and whose soul is always there with me when I photograph.

In this scene, the stylized universe, soft colors, and retro references soften the underlying tension. The danger hasn’t disappeared, but it’s displaced—treated with distance and poetry. Through this contrast between form and content, I aim to construct a parallel world where imagination becomes a means of making reality more bearable. My work is based on the creation of miniature sets, entirely handmade. In these models, I incorporate printed 2D elements that mimic volume, creating visual illusions. The figure is then photographed separately, with precisely matched lighting and perspective. Combining the two images blurs the sense of scale – the miniature appears life-size.

The artwork explores the cyclical nature of life through the symbolism of the lotus – its flowers, leaves, seeds, and pods. Rising from mud to bloom, the lotus embodies resilience and rebirth, while the reflection represents the self within the endless cycle of existence. It’s a meditation on impermanence, arousing viewers to embrace the present, accept change, and find strength in adversity. It celebrates the enduring human spirit that transforms darkness into light.

The concept for this image was born during a dark time in my life, and it was created specifically for the competition. The Daemon (model in bodypaint) symbolizes inner fears and anxieties, while its moving wings evoke the restless swirl of thoughts. The woman’s hands, tense over her solar plexus, express the struggle to contain these torments. Fabrics on the ground reflect our darkest thoughts striving to break into reality. The mask and headdress are inspired by Persian Battoulah masks. Every feature is real and handcrafted, with wings made of satin fabric animated by fans and spider-like limbs crafted from sculpted polyurethane foam.

Your worth isn’t something you earn, it’s something you already have. Find your value within.

This self-portrait is part of an ongoing series exploring identity, belonging, and our connection to nature. Wearing a handmade daisy dress and headpiece in a wild meadow, I embody a quiet merging with the landscape – becoming one with nature. Rooted in performance, sculpture, and photography, the work blurs the boundary between self and surroundings, visibility and vulnerability. The field mirrors the figure, creating a surreal yet grounded composition. Searching for a Place to Belong reflects a personal journey and speaks to our collective need for rootedness, acceptance, and harmony with the natural world.

Only by descending into the darkest depths of our subconscious, where shadows twist with sharp teeth and claws, can we reach that deep, silent emptiness that opens the doors to our true self. In a delicate dance between light and darkness, we will explore that unfathomable darkness, wrapped in a warm, reassuring white fluorescence like a silent embrace, which reveals and purifies our hidden essence. In this delicate communion of shadow and light, we will free ourselves from burdens and masks, and, lightened, will slowly rise, floating upward, towards a new dawn of awareness, where the soul is renewed, pure and luminous.

“Echo” – from the series “I Saw a Mermaid” When I first posted this work on social media, I just wanted to say: “Mermaids feel too.”
And as a viewer, at this point in time, I can read it this way: the mermaid is the image of the Other – someone from another world, someone who exists beyond logic.
Together with that short caption, I read this work as a call to treat each other with more care – even if someone is different – and to be gentler with the world and with our fellow beings on this planet.

My work began in photography and grew into installation, public art and performance and is often a combination of these disciplines. Shaped predominantly by events in my life, my themes explore various personally meaningful subjects both broad; such as animal welfare and environmental concerns, to more intimate; friends, family and community. I am inspired by nature and often use foraged elements and materials from the natural world to tell my story. I enjoy making many of the components in each project by hand, learning a new skill each time I build a new project helps to keep my process fresh, engaged and inspired. The majority of my photography work, which includes my submitted image, Talisman, were captured with an 8×10 camera and film.

The origin of this picture was our endeavor to create poetry with an antique dress that was and is slowly falling apart. The finely woven lace is impossible to save. A beautiful fragment in time – so tangible and mortal in our deathless digital age. Our idea was to create a marble-like photographic sculpture to capture that moment in time – flowing, feminine, sacred.

Portrait of Robert Tilley, the closest friend I’ve made in Canada since I came 3 years ago. I photographed him the day before his 73rd birthday. Robert’s grandfather, William Marmaduke Tilley (b. 1882), lived a legendary life across Canada’s Northern territories and Atlantic region and was nicknamed “Duke,” short for his full name. I think “Duke” is the perfect title for this image. The coat Robert wears here is one he made himself roughly 40 years ago.

I know ”A photograph captures what is there”, but I want to capture the invisible in my pictures. For example, emotions such as joy, regret, happy, sad and so on. So I made the people there appear transparent, obscuring their presence. Specifically, I used long exposure to make the people transparent, thereby diluting their presence. In exchange for this dilution, I decided to fill in the gaps with my imagination. My photographs are completed when the viewer fills in the gaps with their memories and emotions. In this way, I hope to share the time and experience of facing my work.