THE SEVEN-member jury of the Slovak Press Photo 2014 competition awarded the main Grand Prix prize to freelance photographer Michal Burza. It picked one picture from his series called Maidan, capturing the events on Independence Square in Kiev.
“The winning picture from the Maidan expresses the message to the whole world, which makes it global,” said Russian photographer Yuri Kozyrev, as quoted by the TASR newswire, adding that the competition was of a high calibre.
The third year of the Slovak Press Photo was attended by 113 photographers altogether, 16 of whom were from abroad. They contributed a total of 1,115 pictures.
The high quality of the submitted pictures was also confirmed by Jana Garvoldtová, the director of the competition, and chair of the jury Paul Martinka, a Slovak photographer living in the US. He expressed interest in showing the pictures at an exhibition in New York.
“I am surprised by the total quality [of the competition], and especially the strong student category,” Martinka said, as quoted by TASR, adding that the pictures are world-class in terms of quality.
In addition to Martinka, the jury was comprised of Czech photographers Jindřich Štreit, Jan
Šibík and Roman Vondrouš, who also praised the quality of the pictures, especially in the categories of hot news, everyday life, reporting, portraits, young photographers and journalism students. According to them, the only weak category was the environment.
“As a pedagogue, I am proud of the quality of the student photography,” said photographer Jana Hojstričová, who also teaches at the University of Visual Arts (VŠVU) in Bratislava.
Kozyrev also appreciated the pictures submitted by the young photographers, stressing that “you can be proud of them”.
“They create a new language, new approaches to telling stories,” Kozyrev added, as quoted by TASR.
The jury also proposed three competitors to get the Grant of Bratislava, one of whom will be selected to receive the award from Bratislava Mayor Milan Ftáčnik. The ceremony will take place on October 22, and the organisers will also award the best photographers in each category. The best photos will then be exhibited in the Bratislava City Museum, TASR wrote.
