Photo News – Renaissance Photography Prize 2013 finalists and shortlisted photographers announced

RENAISSANCE PHOTOGRAPHY PRIZE 2013 – MOMENTS THAT MATTER

© Jackson Patterson, © Lorenzo Vitturi

“Judging the Renaissance Prize was a very rewarding challenge. We couldn’t reach a unanimous decision after an intense day of collective judging, so the individual judges spent a few days reflecting on the broader shortlist. I, for one, feel very proud to be associated with this award. The shortlisted photographers are strong and original, whilst funds are raised to benefit the important work done by The Lavender Trust.”
Chris Littlewood, Director of Photography at Flowers Gallery.

© Bryan Schutmaat, © Hanna Putz

12 individual photographs and series have been shortlisted for the top prizes in the Renaissance Photography Prize. 60 photographs will be exhibited from 3-7 September at the Wapping Project Bankside, near Tate Modern, in London, and the winners will be announced at a special fundraising reception and awards ceremony on 5 September. The full list for those selected can be seen here.

© Arnis Balcus, © Kate Peters

Shortlisted for Best Single Image and Category Prizes
Expression
Albert Bonsfills (Spain)
Cinzia Camela (Italy) and
Jackson Patterson (United States)

Ordinary
Miska Draskoczy (United States)
Kate Eshelby (United Kingdom)
Kate Peters (United Kingdom)

In Between
Sophie Harris-Taylor (United Kingdom)
Jason Larkin (United Kingdom)
Kate Peters (United Kingdom)

© Mirjina Vrbaski, ©Kate Peters

Shortlisted for Best Series and the Runner-Up Prize
Hanna Putz (Austria)
Lorenzo Vitturi (United Kingdom)
David Watson (United Kingdom)

In total, there were 5000 entries from 64 countries. Thee judges for the Series category included Chris Littlewood, Simon Bainbridge (editor British Journal of Photography), Nadav Kander (photographer) and me. Monica Allende was supposed to be on the judging panel, but could not make it.

The press release mentions that “agreeing on a shortlist was particularly difficult for the judges this year as the competition attracted so many strong submissions”. This is true, however, it was also a case of the judges having different opinions on the key contenders and needing more time to make the crucial decisions and justify their choices. I would like to write a post on the process, without giving away the names of the winners or runners up, as it highlights some of the concerns that judges have when looking at work and I feel that there are some important pointers to consider these days with online judging.

The Renaissance Photography Prize is an international photography award that showcases outstanding photography from emerging or established photographers while raising funds to support young women with breast cancer. All profit from entries is donated to The Lavender Trust at Breast Cancer Care, UK. In the five years since its inception, Renaissance has raised over £200,000 for the charity. The awards ceremony also serves as a fundraising event and the public can book tickets through the Renaissance website.

The 2013 judging panel consisted of:
Simon Bainbridge – Editor, British Journal of Photography
Julia Fullerton-Batten – Photographer
Miranda Gavin – Editor-at-Large, Hotshoe International
Nadav Kander – Photographer
Chris Littlewood – Director of Photography, Flowers Gallery, UK
Brett Rogers – Director, The Photographers’ Gallery, UK
Sophie Wright – Cultural & Print Room Director, Magnum Photos

Photo News – Call for entries to Renaissance Photography Prize 2013 with an early bird discount till 15 March

“During my recovery period, day-to-day concerns became irrelevant, and I became more aware of the moments that really matter in life – moments of emotion, human connection, and wonder at the beauty of nature. What better way to represent those moments than through photography?”
Fiona Gifford, a lawyer and keen amateur photographer who was diagnosed with breast cancer, aged 34, founded the competition in 2006.

RENAISSANCE PHOTOGRAPHY PRIZE 2013
The Renaissance Photography Prize is now open for online entries and there is an early bird discount of 20% if you submit your images by 15 March. It is an international photography award that showcases outstanding photography from emerging or established photographers while raising funds to support young women with breast cancer. All profit from entries is donated to The Lavender Trust at Breast Cancer Care, UK and there are a range of prizes.

I’ll be on the judging panel for the Series category and have been a keen supporter of the competition, since I met Fiona in 2008. I will be supporting the competition on the blog until the deadline by featuring the logo. I recently did a short interview with Renaissance for its February newsletter, see below for an excerpt from the interview. The full version should be on the website soon as I had rather a lot to say. For now, here’s a taster:

You will be volunteering to judge this year’s prize – What made you support Renaissance?
Honestly? My mother was diagnosed with advanced breast cancer in 2008 and I happened to meet Fiona [Gifford, the founder] the same year. We got talking and discovered a shared passion for photography. So many photo competitions charge entry fees that amount to a small fortune when you total them up and I often wonder where the money goes. With the Renaissance Photography Prize all the money goes to the Lavender Trust. 

What are you looking for when you judge a photography prize? 
I like to find images that resonate with me and give me a sense of the photographer, their vision and imagination. I am drawn to photos that evoke emotion… I see a lot of clichéd images that show me the same subjects, whether portraits or landscapes, portrayed in a generic fashion. With a series, it’s important that the photographs are cohesive and hang together as a whole. But that doesn’t mean that they all need to look the same – it’s about the overall sense of the series as well as about the individual shots. I think that one of the most challenging aspects in creating a series is producing a tight edit, one in which all the photos are working individually and together.

In the five years since its inception, Renaissance has raised over £200,000 for the charity. Entering gives photographers a chance to have their work judged by some of the top names in the industry and win prizes with a total value of over £5,000, including cash, photographic equipment, portfolio reviews and the winning series published in HotShoe Magazine. In addition, 60 selected photographs will form part of the Renaissance exhibition held this autumn in a prestigious London gallery.

Previous prize winners include Renaissance Photography Prize 2012 to Anastasia Taylor-Lind (United Kingdom), Calumet Film Prize 2012 to Julieta Sans (United Kingdom) and the Category Prize 2012 – Expression to Mimi Mollica (United Kingdom). See 2012 prize winners for more.

SUBMISSIONS
Photographers can enter single images (categories Expression, Ordinary and In Between) or a series of work in an open category. The competition is open to everyone and welcomes entries from all countries.

Single Image
Submit unlimited individual photographs
Categories: Expression – Ordinary – In Between
Entry fee: £15 for 1 photograph, £25 for up to 3, £40 for up to 6

Series
Submit 5-8 photographs from one body of work + project statement
Category: Open, no theme
Entry fee: £50 per series

JUDGES 2013
Monica Allende – Picture Editor, The Sunday Times Magazine
Simon Bainbridge – Editor, British Journal of Photography
Julia Fullerton-Batten – Photographer
Miranda Gavin – Deputy and Online Editor, HotShoe International
Nadav Kander – Photographer
Chris Littlewood – Director of Photography, Flowers Gallery, UK
Brett Rogers – Director, The Photographers’ Gallery, UK
Sophie Wright – Cultural & Print Room Director, Magnum Photos

The judges will select 60 photographs to be exhibited in London autumn 2013, and from these nominate the shortlist and winners. The winners will be announced at an award ceremony held during the exhibition week.

PREVIOUS JUDGES
In previous years the judges, all of whom donate their time and expertise, has included Martin Parr, Eamonn McCabe and editors, curators and directors from respected UK institutions such as The Photographers’ Gallery, Michael Hoppen Gallery, Rhubarb Rhubarb and the Sunday Times Magazine.

About Renaissance
Six years on and the competition has become an established fixture in the photography world. Renaissance is growing each year and last year the competition attracted over 5,225 entries from 67 countries. It has enjoyed amazing support from photographers, editors, curators and photography organisations and aims to raise even more funds this year.

For more information please visit Renaissance Photography Prize or contact info@renaissancephotography.org.

You can also find Renaissance on Twitter and Facebook.