Presented by Benrido, the Hariban Award combines a 170-year-old analogue technique with contemporary photography. Glass plates have been used as the base for collotype printing plates which still continues today. The award is called “Hariban” as “Hari” means glass plate, and “ban” means printing plate in Japanese. This Award invites professionals and amateurs alike to submit black and white photographs for a chance to win. Submissions are judged by an international group of Jurors, and the Grand Prize Winner receives a two-week residency in Kyoto, Japan, to collaborate with the master printers of Benrido.

Established in 1887, Benrido has specialised in the unique printing technique known as Collotype and today remains one of only a few studios left in the world capable of making fine colour collotype prints.

Collotype is an alternative printing process that was invented in 1855 by the French engineer Alphonse Poitevin as a method for photographic fine art printing. Photographic prints of the 19th century had poor image preservability and gradually faded and discoloured over time. To compensate for this, various printing methods using pigments were devised; one of the established techniques among them was collotype.



Grand Prize Winner

Two-week residency
The Grand Prize Winner will collaborate with the Master Printer of the Benrido Collotype Atelier during the stay in Kyoto. Working closely with printers, the Winner will produce eight collotype prints of the award-winning works.
The Grand Prize Winner will learn about the origins of the collotype and how it is made through the Collotype Academy’s collotype hand-printing workshop. The winner will receive one postcard-size plate and one 8×10 inch plate at the beginning of the workshop.
An artist talk and social event will be held with Benrido’s staff and craftspeople.

Solo Exhibition
The 2024 Grand Prize Winner’s collotype prints will be exhibited in a solo exhibition held in the spring of the following year after their residency is complete.

Publication of the artwork in the official catalogue The winner’s artwork will be included in the official catalogue of the Hariban Award 2024, to be published in April 2025.