Competition is fierce in the world of international photo contests.
© krystalkenney.com

Capturing the Moment

Winning a photo competition is a challenge.

Why do we enter? Because we want to have our work seen and appreciated by a well-respected jury . . . and by a wider audience.

Prizes, opportunity for exhibition, and getting representation from the right gallery or museum are all important for success as an artist.

As with the lottery, we always enter with hope, but the reality is that the winners’ circle is a very exclusive club.

Anne Biroleau, Curator of Photography for the Bibliothèque Nationale, makes her final jury selections.
© krystalkenney.com

Recognizing Talent

The International Fine Art Photography Competition (Grand Prix de la Découverte) has just announced the 2013 winners. This competition, recognized as one of the most prestigious in the world, celebrates fine art photography and the discovery of new talent.

The program provides the winners with cash awards, an exhibition at the November Salon de la Photo in Paris, and acceptance into the prestigious collection of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France.

All attention is focused on the difficult selection process.
© krystalkenney.com

The Magnificent Seven

After three months of intensive review, including a careful study of the fine art prints from the 44 finalists, seven exceptional photographs (and photographers) emerged.

A 1st Place Award was presented in each of the categories: Abstract, Cityscape/Architecture, Experimental, Landscape/Seascape/Nature, People/Portraits, Still Life, and Street Photography/Documentary.

• These seven images stood out from more than 5000 images submitted from 82 countries.
• They spoke to the personal artistic tastes of six expert, but very different, jurors.
• And they made it through three jury rounds, each time proving powerful enough, memorable enough, and different enough from the other images to leave a lasting impression with the jurors.

Jurors Alexandre Percy, Didier Brousse, and Anne Biroleau study a competition entry.
© krystalkenney.com

How to Win the Hearts and Minds of the Jurors

The jury included curators Anne Biroleau from the Bibliothèque Nationale de France and David Travis from the Chicago Institute of Art; Gallery Directors Alexandre Percy of the Acte 2 Galerie and Didier Brousse of the Galerie Camera Obscura, both in Paris; Julie Grahame, Publisher of aCurator Magazine; and photographer Hiroshi Watanabe.

The panel was chosen for their wide-ranging experience and their dedication to the importance of recognizing and supporting deserving talent.

The jury looked for artistry and originality of the vision. They looked for images they hadn’t seen before—things that were memorable, moving, surprising, or hauntingly beautiful. Photographs that offered a deep and lasting impression.

A Man Feeding Swans in the Snow
© 2013 Marcin Ryczek (Poland)

Yin and Yang

“It is said that the best photography moves people no matter what culture they come from,” says Marcin Ryczek from Poland, winner of the 1st Place Award in Landscape/Seascape/Nature. “This is the true force of photography.”

Marcin’s winning image is a simple, contemplative, perfectly composed moment of everyday life—stark white snow juxtaposed with the rippled black Vistula River flowing through Krakow, white swans being fed by a black-clad man. Positive and negative space. Yin and yang.

“Winning this award confirms my belief that I’m on the right path and that my approach to creating images appeals to the imagination and emotions of the public.”

The Inner Invisible
© 2013 Simona Bonanno (Italy)

The Mystery of Reality

Italian Simona Bonanno won the 1st Place Award in the Abstract category. She defines her work as “a place where light meets color and where perception of the known is lost.” “It is here,” she believes, “that we find our innermost needs.”

“I come from an artistic family so my passion for all things creative was predestined,” Simona says. “But it is photography’s tenuous relationship with reality that fascinates me. You don’t know what happened before and after the image, so anything is possible.”

Multiexpo 2
© 2012 Frank Machalowski (Germany)

Multiplicities in Urban Life

Berliner Frank Machalowski’s 1st Place photograph in the Cityscape/Architecture category is part of his series of Berlin landmarks. His integrated multiple exposures provide many different views of the same structure and offer, in his words, “a haphazard look at urban life.”

From the Series Family Ties
© 2012 Maria Garcia (Peru)

Human Moments

Maria Garcia, from Peru, won the 1st Place Award in the People/Portraits category. Her image is part of a series called Family Ties, which explores death not only as an end of life but also as a reminder to live well and relate to others.

Running to the Edge
© 2012 Julia Borissova (Russia)

Inventing Memories

Julia Borissova, a photographic artist from Russia, earned the 1st Place Award in the Experimental category with her unique view of history and time.

“I aim to show how, over time, certain details about the past are forgotten,” Julia explains. “And that when we think back, we construct a new image. We replace certain aspects of the past with new, different memories.”

Globe de Mariée
© 2009 Carole Suety (UK)

Changing Traditions

Originally from Paris, Carole Suety is a London-based photographer who won the 1st Place Award in the Still Life category.

Her image was inspired by the 19th century French tradition of displaying wedding souvenirs and symbolic objects under a glass dome to celebrate a couple’s marriage. Her intent, she says, is “to move beyond relics and to allow the natural back inside the dome.”

Bather #5 from the Series Bathers, Ukraine/IZOLYATSIA
© 2011 Richard Ansett (UK)

Artistic Rebellion

Richard Ansett, from the UK, won the 1st Place Award in the Street Photography/Documentary category, although he admits that his images are “ambivalent constructions in which truth and narrative are not considerations.”

He explores a deconstruction of the notion that portraiture should be restricted to faces and believes that compositional rules should not be imposed by the history of art.

“I was taking a risk by presenting my most important work to the scrutiny of strangers and I am very moved that it has been recognized by the jury as something of value.”

“I entered this image because I love it. Winning this award is an affirmation that other people have an emotional response to my work. It is the image that has won, not me.”

Oh, I See

As visual images flood the planet, the fine art photographer’s creative challenge is to make a truly original image—one that has impact and power and the ability to evoke or provoke response.

These talented photographers and these exceptional photographs did just that, proving—strikingly—that fine art photography is alive and well.

Find out more about The International Fine Art Photography Competition, sponsored by The de Groot Foundation.

Visit the exhibition of finalists’ work at the Paris Salon de la Photo from November 7–11, 2013. 

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.