Swiss-born Mira Andres, of Aberystwyth, will get Â£1,000 and exhibit at Swansea's Elysium Gallery after winning the ESPY International Award 2015.
The University of South Wales graduate was recognised for her composition, The Black Crows of Borth.
It was inspired by the women who once walked the coastal path to Aberystwyth to sell herring and cockles.
Ms Andres, 28, who works as a freelance photographer and designer, said: "I'm very honoured and pleased to have won and I'm looking forward to exhibiting more of this work."
She was chosen as winner by judges Helen Sear and Peter Finnemore, two leading Welsh artists who have represented Wales at the Venice Biennale exhibition.
A Ceredigion photographer has won an international competition with a series of pictures taken in Borth.