Artist Alana Perino Awarded 2025 Aperture Portfolio Prize

(New York—May 13, 2025) Aperture is pleased to announce photographer Alana Perino as the winner of the 2025 Aperture Portfolio Prize. Perino was selected from five shortlisted artists who include Sara Abbaspour, Emma Ressel, Hashem Shakeri, and Daria Svertilova.

Since 2006, the 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, a jury of leading figures in the field of photography awarded the prize: Noelle Flores Théard, senior digital photo-editor, The New Yorker; Lucy Gallun, curator, Robert B. Menschel Department of Photography, MoMA; Zack Hatfield, managing editor, Aperture magazine; and Mark Armijo McKnight, artist and 2019 Aperture Portfolio Prize winner.

Perino’s winning submission, Pictures of Birds, is a mesmeric evocation of familial memory and mortality. Born in New York and raised by separated parents, Perino moved to live with their father and stepmother on the small Floridian island of Longboat Key in 2020, where their stepmother died the following year. The project combines contemplative domestic scenes with the lush environment of the island, contrasting cycles of life in both nature and the home. “This particular ecosystem within Longboat Key—the humidity, the scope of life—highlights how interconnected all of the different species are and how reliant we are on the shells, the mangroves, and the water to proceed from one generation to another,” says Perino.

As the first-prize winner, Perino will be featured in Aperture’s Summer 2025 issue launching in June, and will receive a $5,000 cash prize, a $1,000 gift card to MPB.com, and a solo presentation organized by Aperture in New York City. The four shortlisted artists will each receive a $1,000 cash prize and an editorial feature on Aperture.org. To preview the Summer issue, which includes an article about Perino and their work by Eli Cohen, and to learn more about all the shortlisted artists, visit Aperture.org.

Perino and the 2025 shortlist join the ranks of illustrious winners and shortlisted artists for the Portfolio Prize in past years, including Felipe Romero Beltrán, Dannielle Bowman, Alejandro Cartagena, Jessica Chou, River Claure, Eli Durst, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Janna Ireland, Abhishek Khedekar, Natalie Krick, Daniel Jack Lyons, Vân-Nhi Nguyễn, Drew Nikonowicz, Sarah Palmer, Avion Pearce, RaMell Ross, Bryan Schutmaat, Donavon Smallwood, Laila Stevens, Ka-Man Tse, and Guanyu Xu.

The 2025 Aperture Portfolio Prize is supported by MPB.

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Alana Perino (born in New York, 1988) is an artist based in Providence, Rhode Island. Their practice, which spans photography, sculpture, performance, and autofiction, is concerned with home, the nature of belonging, and perceptions of the self. Their work has been exhibited and published by Aperture, Lenscratch, LensCulture, and Palm Studios, among others. Previously, Perino has taught at Academy of Art University, Harvey Milk Center for the Arts, both in San Franciso, and at the Rhode Island School of Design, Providence.

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About Aperture
Aperture is a nonprofit publisher that leads conversations around photography worldwide. From its base in New York, Aperture connects global audiences and supports artists through its acclaimed quarterly magazine, books, exhibitions, digital platforms, public programs, limited-edition prints, and awards. Established in 1952 to advance “creative thinking, significantly expressed in words and photographs,” Aperture champions photography’s vital role in nurturing curiosity and encouraging a more just, tolerant society.

Aperture’s programs and operations are made possible by the generosity of our board of trustees, our members, and other individuals, and with major support from 7G Foundation, Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation, Charina Endowment Fund, Documentary Arts, Ford Foundation, Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, Marta Heflin Foundation, Ishibashi Foundation, Joy of Giving Something, Anne Levy Charitable Trust, Henry Luce Foundation, Mailman Foundation, MurthyNAYAK Foundation, Grace Jones Richardson Trust, San Francisco Foundation, Thomas R. Schiff Foundation, Jane Smith Turner Foundation, Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Stuart B. Cooper and R. L. Besson, Kate Cordsen and Denis O’Leary, Thomas and Susan Dunn, Agnes Gund, Michael Sonnenfeldt, Jon Stryker and Slobodan Randjelović, National Endowment for the Arts, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and New York State Council on the Arts, with support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

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Press Contact
Lauren Van Natten, publicity@aperture.org