In Bratislava 21.08.2023 - A few days of evaluation by the international jury has resulted in the winners of the Grand Prix of the 12th SLOVAK PRESS PHOTO, as well as the winners of the individual competition categories.
From 19 to 20 August 2023, the international jury of 5 members evaluated the competition photographs and decided on the winning photographs of the current edition of the journalistic photography competition. This year's jury consisted of: Maral Deghati (chairperson of the jury, Getty Images, France), Espen Rasmussen (photographer, VII Photo Agency, Norway), Alexander Chekmenev (photographer, Ukraine), Jindřich Štreit (photographer and teacher, Czech Republic) and Jana Hojstričová (photographer and teacher, Slovakia) who is also the project's guarantor.
151 photographers registered for the competition and submitted a total of 1495 photographs from 152 series. There were 11 photographers from Poland, 8 from Hungary, 11 from the Czech Republic and 17 from Ukraine. Everything surprised us this year in a good sense. "We are very happy with the amount and the quality of the registered photographs. Of course, it is very important that photographers from the Visegrad Four and Ukraine have also applied and sent a lot of photographs. We are gradually growing and our competition is becoming a quality international project," evaluated the number of registered photographers and their entries the director of the competition SLOVAK PRESS PHOTO, Jana Garvoldtová. It is a great honour for us that many of them are the winners of similar competitions in their respective countries.
Among the entries, the themes of tragic events that resonated strongly throughout our society last year dominated the competition, becoming a senseless and incomprehensible memento of the hatred of an individual against a group of people. A large number of contestants mapped various social issues, environmental protection, the climate crisis and the war in Ukraine and its consequences in their photographic works. The jury expressed great satisfaction with the international categories Daily Life, Long-term Document, and Environment and Nature whose level far exceeded that of the other categories.
On the winning photographs, the jury said: "In the category of Reportage, we awarded the prize according to the quality to a photograph from the series called Protest pre Matúša a Jakuba (A protest for Matúš and Jakub). One photograph, entitled Kričiaci a plačúci aktivisti (Shouting and crying activists) was selected as the winner. It was chosen by the jury as the winning photograph also with regard to the impact this topic has on the life of society in Slovakia. Even in Slovakia, there is an obvious global trend of the emergence of a new generation of photographers whose view and perception of the reality of everyday life is very different from what you have been used to so far."
"The Grand Prix prize will be awarded to a young female photographer. This is the first time that a photographer who has been working on the subject of the LGBTI+ community for several years has won the Grand Prix. It is a signal of the objectivity and impartiality of the international jury, as well as an indication that not only established photojournalists from large publishing houses have a chance to succeed and win, but also freelance photographers," added the director of the SLOVAK PRESS PHOTO competition.
The names of all finalists will be published by the competition organiser no later than one week before the award ceremony, which will take place on 21 September 2023 at 5 p.m. in the Mirror Hall of the Primate's Palace in Bratislava. The works of all finalists and winners of individual competition categories will be exhibited at the subsequent exhibition in the public space of Hviezdoslav Square in Bratislava from 21 September 2023 to 31 October 2023.
The jury evaluated individual photographs and series of photographs in 9 competition categories: https://slovak-press-photo.sk/en/categories
This year, there were 4 international categories. A special category is the Bratislava Grant, this year its theme is "Bratislava - Climate Crisis". Every year, the jury also awards the Young Talent of the Year prize. And after the end of the exhibition of the 12th SLOVAK PRESS PHOTO, the Spectator's Award will also be awarded.
