October 30, 2025 – CONTACT is pleased to announce Montréal-based artist Matthew Poburyny as the 2025 Burtynsky Grant winner for the book project Divided Heart. The jury—Cristian Ordóñez, Kate Schneider, and Brian Sholis—had the pleasure and honour of reviewing a wide range of compelling, competitive photobook proposals.
Jury statement: "Matthew Poburyny comes from a musical background, which he has successfully translated into his photographic practice. Featuring images he made while living and working along the Decarie Expressway (a trench highway located in Montreal’s West end), Divided Heart uses a musical rhythm and structure to place the viewer in a perhaps familiar world of repetition, failure, humour, and unlikely beauty.
The jury chose Divided Heart as the 2025 winner for its consistency of vision, careful sequencing of images, and for taking surprising new routes to subjects you may have seen before. After releasing an early version of Divided Heart as a small zine, the grant will allow Poburyny to realize the project more completely in book form."
The jury also recognized the following Honourable Mentions:
Romane Bladou - Pins and Needles
Ethan Murphy - No Guts, No Glory
CONTACT's Photobook Lab is committed to making all three photobooks available for purchase upon publication.
Established by photographer Edward Burtynsky and CONTACT, the Burtynsky Grant is a $5,000 annual grant to support a Canadian lens-based artist in the creation of a photobook. Since its inception in 2016, The Burtynsky Grant has supported a range of exceptional photobooks.
2024
Simon Emond, Say My Name (Dis Mon Nom). Forthcoming 2026 from Sternthal Books.
Honourable Mentions:
Josh Aronson - Florida Boys
Pengkuei Ben Huang - The Memory Shore
Ruth Kaplan - Crossing. Forthcoming 2026 from Kehrer Verlag.
2023
Morris Lum, Chinatowns: Tong Yan Gaai. Published 2025 by DelMonico Books/DAP with WORK BOOK Editions.
Honourable Mentions:
Cindy Blazevic, The Stink of Motherhood
Sandra Brewster, Blur. Published 2025 by Free Pony Press.
Chris M Forsyth, Montana Road Wreck. Published 2024 by Push Pull Editions.
2022
Fatine-Violette Sabiri, Kiss Landing. Published 2024 by Éditions VU.
Honourable Mentions:
Oumayma Ben Tanfous, Intertwined
Bertrand Carrière, Une poignée d’étoiles (A Handful of Stars). Published 2023 by Éditons Loco Paris.
Tommy Keith, Don’t Forget to Wave. Self-published in 2023.
Julie Pasila, As Above
2021
Cristian Ordóñez, Frequency. Self-published in 2023.
Honourable Mentions
Sara Knelman, Lady Readers. Published 2024 by Ottoby Press.
Jon Laytner, Normal and Boring
Rehab Nazzal, Driving in Palestine. Published 2023 by Fernwood Press.
Kyler Zeleny, Bury Me in the Back Forty. Published 2024 by The Velvet Cell.
2020
Pamila Matharu, Index: Some of All Parts. Forthcoming.
Honourable Mentions
Leyla Godfrey, Four Walls With No Entrance
Esmond Lee, Below the City
Laurence Philomene, Puberty. Published 2022 by Yoffy Press.
2019
Teresa Eng, China Dream. Published 2019 by Skinnerboox.
Honourable Mentions
Valerian Mazataud, Liwa Mairin. Self-published in 2021.
Luis Mora, Say it with Flowers. Self-published in 2019.
Heather Rattray, 98 Ways to Say Very Good
2018
Birthe Piontek, Abendlied. Published 2019 by Gnomic Book.
Honourable Mentions
Eve Tagny, Lost Love
Ian Willms, We Shall See
2017
The Broadbent Sisters, A Telepathic Book. Self-published in 2018.
2016
Aaron Friend Lettner, Doorways. Published 2017 by Anchorless Press.