Jacqui Taffel

October 23, 2026 — 5:00am

Photomedia artist and former Sydney Morning Herald news photographer Tamara Dean has entered the Bowness Photography Prize every year since it began in 2006. In 2026, it was finally her time.

Last month she won the $50,000 award with Metamorphosis , an image she took of herself in her custom-built pool studio at home in Cambewarra, south of Sydney. Submerged with a simple piece of flowing yellow cloth, she has created a dramatic, ethereal portrait floating in black space.

Tamara Dean with her self-portrait Entanglement, now on exhibition at S.H. Ervin Gallery. James Brickwood

Dean has shot many successful underwater series in her pool, yet she says this particular image “almost broke my spirit”. Previously, these works have been shot against photographic backdrops; for this latest series she wanted to try a black background.…