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About the Hariban Award

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.

What winners receive

Grand Prize Winner

Two-week residency

The 2023 Grand Prize Winner’s two-week residency in Kyoto will take place from October 2023.

Activities of the winner during the stay in Kyoto

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 8x10 inch plate at the beginning of the workshop.

*Flights, accommodation, and production expenses will be provided. (Details to be determined with the Grand Prize Winner)

Solo Exhibition

The 2023 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.

Juror's Choice Award

An applicant will be selected from the pool of submissions by each Juror as their nomination for the Juror’s Choice Award. The Juror’s Choice Award winners will receive a dedicated text by their respective nominators that will be printed and published along with a selection of their work in the official Hariban Award Catalogue. All Juror’s Choice Award winners will also receive copies of the limited-edition award catalogue for their personal use.

Additionally, as an extra prize in commemoration of the 10th Hariban Award, 2023, the winner can make 8x10 inch (1 image/10 sheets) or postcard-size (1 image/100 sheets) collotype prints using COLLO-FULL*1.

Benrido Award

Selected by Benrido CEO Takumi Suzuki, the Benrido Award winner will receive a dedicated text written by Mr. Suzuki and will have an image printed and published in collotype within the official Hariban Award catalogue. The Benrido Award winner will also receive a copy of the catalogue for their personal use.

Honourable Mentions

Runners-up from the final round of judging will be given Honourable Mentions. An image of their submitted work will be printed and published within the official Hariban Award catalogue. The runners-up will also receive copies of the catalogue for their personal use.

Additionally, as an extra prize in commemoration of the 10th Hariban Award, 2023, the winner can make postcard-size (1 image/100 sheets) collotype prints using COLLO-FULL*1.

*1 COLLO-FULL: Automated Collotype Ordering System >> https://collo-full.com

HARIBAN AWARD Official Catalogue 2023

All finalists will receive a catalogue for the award printed in collotype and hand-bound by traditional binders in Kyoto, Japan. The catalogue will be published in 2024.

Judging Process of HARIBAN AWARD 2023

First Round
All four Jurors take part in the First Round of Judging. Points are given to each submission from a 0–5 star rating. The submissions that pass the First Round of Judging from the accumulation of points will proceed to the Final Round. All judging will be carried out individually online by each Juror.

Final Round
All four Jurors will take part in the Final Round of Judging to determine the Grand Prize Winner and Finalists. Points are given to each submission within the Final Round of Judging from a 0–5 star rating. The submission with the highest overall points from the accumulated scores from all four jurors will be awarded the Grand Prize. The Judging will be carried out individually online by each Juror.

About Collotype

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.