After an intense period of judging, the moment has come to present the winners and finalists of the Rovinj Photodays 2023 competition!

Until March 5, 3,200 photographs by authors from 28 countries of the world were submitted to this year’s contest.

This year, the judging was conducted by a six-member jury of prominent experts in their fields of activity:

  1. Sabina Salamon , senior curator of the MMSU Rijeka Photo Collection – president of the jury (HR)
  2. Dino Rekanović , founder of the ROTLICHT festival and manager of the Photon gallery in Vienna (AT)
  3. Steffania Rössl , photographer and director of SIFEST (IT)
  4. Hrvoje Slovenc , photographer (NY)
  5. Massimo Sordi, photographer and director of SIFEST (IT)
  6. Ján Viazanička , photographer, teacher, curator and editor-in-chief of the photography magazine dokumentmagazin.sk (SK)

The jury had the task of selecting the finalists of the competition and among them the winner of the Grand Prix, i.e. the overall winner of the competition. In the judging process, they are given the autonomy to decide on the number and composition of the finalists, in order to ensure that the final exhibition of the finalists really represents the best of the submitted works.

“This year’s competition of the Rovinj Photodays festival did not disappoint the expectations of the host. As in previous years, it recorded an increase in the number of applications , reaching the number of 3200 photos ! In addition to a few faithful followers and already award-winning authors, there is a significantly larger number of new names among the applicants , from countries outside the former Yugoslavia and the broader ring of Southeast Europe, and additionally, the finalist of the renowned Rotlicht festival in Vienna , with which the festival recently entered into a partnership relationship . The wide range of applications from a total of 28 countries is certainly the result of the work of the jury members who responsibly encourage local photography communities to actively participate in international festivals and thus contribute to their visibility and placement. I believe o that this year’s selection of the jury will contribute to the further positioning of the Rovinj Photodays festival on the map of internationally relevant photo festivals. – said Sabina Salamon , president of the jury .

This year , three authors from the Netherlands, three authors from Slovakia, two authors from Germany, two authors from Italy and one author each from Austria, Cyprus, Finland, Greece, Croatia, Slovenia, Russia and Ukraine were among the finalists.

The exhibition of the works of these 18 authors will be the focal point of the events at the festival, which will be held on the 5th. i 6. svibnja u Rovinju , while the Grand Prix of the festival will be announced at the closing evening on May 6 at the Island Hotel Istra! We also continue our cooperation with the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rijeka , which includes the autumn exhibition of the finalists and their inclusion in the Photography Collection of MMSU Rijeka.

 

AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS:

1. Presentation of all the works of the finalists with corresponding statements of the author on the official website
2. Presentation of the selected works of the finalists at a joint exhibition during the festival in Rovinj and at the end of November 2023 at the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rijeka
3. All nominated works from the final exhibition of finalists in digital form remain in the museum’s permanent collection
4. All winners and finalists of the final exhibition receive written diplomas / awards
5. All finalists are entitled to the official catalog of the final exhibition in digital form
6. All category winners receive free half-board accommodation at Hotel Istra on the island of Sv. Andrija for two people in Rovinj at the end of the festival in May 2023.

 

GRAND PRIX 2023.

1. A monetary amount of 2,000 Euros
2. Independent exhibition with accompanying catalog at the end of the festival in May 2024 in Rovinj
3. Free half-board accommodation at the Island Hotel Istra on the island of St. Andrije during his stay in Rovinj in 2023.
4. A solo exhibition with an accompanying catalog at the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rijeka during the fall of 2023.
5. Special positioning in the museum fund, where the work remains under the curator’s care in digital or printed form
6. Recognition: Grand Prix Photodays 2023

 

FINALISTS:

BODY/ACT
1. Milan Gies (NL)
2. Artem Humilevskyi (UA)
3. Patrick Hudepohl (NL)

ARCHITECTURE
1. Mikhail Lebedev & Ivan Druzhinin (RU)
2. Mara Novak (AT)
3. Jana Dillo (DE)

DOCUMENTARY PHOTOGRAPHY
1. Eva Vei (GR)
2. Katerina Churbakova (CY)
3. Pierpaolo Mittica (IT)

FASHION
1. Karina Golisová (SK)
2. Senja Vild (HR)
3. Urška Pečnik (SI)

LANDSCAPE
1. Michaela Nagyidaiová (SK)
2. Bartolomeo Rossi (IT)
3. Jenni Haili (FI)

PORTRAIT
1. Sarah Mei Herman (NL)
2. Jana Gombiková (SK)
3. Thomas Bachler (DE)