MARCO ANTONIO CRUZ WINS GRANGE PRIZE

Mexican artist Marco Antonio Cruz has won the fifty-thousand-dollar Grange Prize for photography, reports Martin Knelman for the Toronto Star. His black-and-white photo essay, a series about blind people in Mexico, was chosen by the public from a field of five nominees short-listed by a panel. There were more than twenty thousand votes, including many online. In addition, some voted in person at exhibitions in Mexico and Canada. Each year, candidates are selected from Canada and one other country. Last year, the other country was China; in 2010 it will be France. The award, created through a partnership of Aeroplan and the Art Gallery of Ontario, was given for the first time last year.