Agenda

NPG Portrait Prize 2007 winner & new sponsor

The fifth annual Photographic Portrait Prize has been won by Jonathan Torgovnik, 38, for his portrait of Joseline Ingabire, a victim of rape during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. Photographed with her two children, born at the height of the conflict, the portrait explores the terrible impact of the atrocities of war and aims to raise awareness of the plight of thousands of women abused in Rwanda. The £12,000 award was presented to the Israeli-born photographer at the National Portrait Gallery, London, last night (Tuesday 6 November).
Torgovnik's first-prize winning photograph was taken as part of the series Intended Consequences: mothers of genocide, children of rape, an ongoing project which documents the lives of Tutsi women raped during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. The work, titled Joseline Ingabire with her daughter Leah Batamuliza, Rwanda shows Joseline embracing her second daughter, while her first daughter, Hossiana, is shown in the background, standing in front of the stark, simple structure of their mud-walled home. "When the genocide started, Joseline was married and two months pregnant' says Torgovnik, 'The militia came to her village and brutally killed her husband in front of her." Joseline was raped throughout her pregnancy, even at nine months, and again after she gave birth to her husband's daughter. She eventually became pregnant with her second daughter, she also became infected with HIV.
It was announced at the awards ceremony that the European law firm Taylor Wessing will become the
sponsor of the Photographic Portrait Prize from next year. The partnership is a continuation of Taylor Wessing's support of the National Portrait Gallery, following its sponsorship of the 2005 exhibition The World's Most Photographed and its co-sponsorship of 2007's exhibition, Face of Fashion. Thanks to the new sponsorship, from 2008 the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize exhibition will be free from admission charge.

Terry O'Neill Award - A Reader Writes

From the Ag postbag:
The shortlist for the first Terry O'Neill Award has been published. Being open minded I never thought I would do this; that is, criticize the work of others in competition, but enough is enough.
Before anyone asks, no, I didn't enter and yes, I understand how subjective photography can be; each to his own and so on.
This award carries the name of Terry O'Neill for whom my respect and admiration knows no bounds and yet, viewing the images, why does the word Schweppes spring immediately to mind? Mr O'Neill is quoted as saying 'Photography in the UK is going through a hugely innovative and exciting period' and I'd like to think that's true. It's just that I'm personally not seeing it in these awards; just more of the same.
Most, but not all, of the images carry the characteristics of what I would consider to be 'art' photography. This has been going on for some time now and I've been waiting patiently for someone to move this strand of photography forward but it just doesn't seem to be happening.
I've always had a problem with the need of the photographer to 'explain' their work. For example; there is a technically accomplished image of a young woman with a crow on her head, that purports to deal with 'women and their image in the eyes of men and society'. Here we go again. The male gaze. Stereotyping. Haven't Barbara Kruger, Cindy Sherman et al already been there and done that?
I'm mindful of the fact that the single images published may not represent a whole project. Projects always work best when seen in full, or at least in groups of photographs. But if, as it appears, this competition is based on single entries then I'll continue. Here are some other examples: An image of clothing on a stick apparently 'signifies the absent body while evoking more abstract ideas relating to loss or memory'. Well, I'm sorry, but no it didn't, even after I'd read the text.
Another asks: ' What is home and what is homelessness?' and yet I did not get an answer from this rather bland image especially as so much good work has already been done on this subject, even as far back as the nineteenth century with Thomas Annan and Jacob Riis. What's new?
I believe that often the problem lies in the colleges and art departments where there seems to be a lack of promotion of the originality of thought. It's as if students are offered a list; this is how to do it today and that images broadly in the 'Schweppes style' are the only way forward.
Fortunately it isn't all bad news. Zak Waters 'Birdman' is in the true spirit of documentary; James Tye's boxer (although reminiscent of Rinike Dijkstra's bullfighters) and Ahmet Unver's Stockholm landscape did not have, at least in the text provided, or require any explanation and both are excellent. Which brings me to Indre Serpytyte's 'State of Silence'. Indre does explain that the image (part of a project which) 'conjures a powerful atmosphere of intrigue and is inspired by the death of her father, a Lithuanian government official in an apparent car accident'. I looked at this deceptively simple image and immediately formed my own opinion that it indeed suggested a faceless bureaucracy that generated it's own pointless work, as represented by the blank paper, and I don't mean in Lithuania. This should win but probably won't.
I wonder if, in the pages of Ag, David Lee will have an opinion. What am I saying? Of course he will.
Geoff Maxted

AOP Open deadline approaching

You have until 5 July to enter this year's Association of Photographers Open competition. There is a variety of worthwhile prizes to be won, including a Nikon D200 digital camera and EPSON photo printers, and the winners and shortlisted work will be exhibited from 22 August to 28 September 2007 at the AOP Gallery, London. The online exhibition and Public Choice vote - where site visitors vote online for their favourite image - will be launched on 1 August at the competition website and you can already download details and entry forms from there. You don't have to be an AOP member - it's Open to all.

Ian Parry Scholarship 2007

The deadline for entries for the Ian Parry Scholarship 2007 is Friday 15 June 2007. Details for application are available by download from the organisation's website.
Ian Parry was a photojournalist who died whilst on assignment for the Sunday Times during the Romanian revolution in 1989. He was just 24 years old. The Scholarship was set up by his friends and family in order to build something positive from his tragic death. 
Sponsored by The Sunday Times and Getty Images, each year the Scholarship invites applications from photographers who are either attending a full-time recognised photography course or who are under the age of 24. Entrants must submit a portfolio of their work and a brief synopsis of a project they would undertake if they won the award. Currently the prize is £2,500 towards their assignment and Metro Imaging also offer £500 worth of vouchers to the winner and £250 to those awarded highly commended and commended. World Press Photo has agreed to automatically accept the winner onto its final list of nominees for the Joop  Swart  Masterclass in Amsterdam.

Leica European Publishers Award 2007

A call for entries is out for the next Leica-sponsored European Publishers Award. Each year a group of seven European photo book publishers chooses a book project from entries submitted by photographers aropund the world, to publish in their own countries. The winning photographer receives a prize of 10,000 Euro as an advance against sales and a specially engraved Leica camera. A dedicated website will be launched in due course at www.europeanphotopublishers.eu, but until then you can view the entry information at UK representative publisher Dewi Lewis Publishing. Entries are accepted throughout January 2007.

Park Life from Photoworks

A new Photoworks commission is announced in collaboration with Brighton & Hove Arts Commission and Brighton & Hove City Council. A photographer is invited to make a new body of work in a public park in Brighton or Hove, with an emphasis on the emotional landscape and what the park might signify to its users. The commission will take place over the period of a year, beginning in April 2006. The artist or photographer will be an experienced professional with good exhibiting history. Some experience of commissions and of working with the public or specific groups would be an advantage. The commission offers a £5000 fee, a budget for expenses, and will culminate in an exhibition and a Photoworks publication. For a full project description and details on how to apply email [email protected].

World Press Photo call for entries

World Press Photo has started its annual invitation round for the 49th World Press Photo Contest and invites press photographers and photojournalists throughout the world to participate. This contest accepts photographs taken during the year 2005 and intended for publication. The deadline for entering is 12 January 2006.
All entries must be accompanied by a completed entry form, which can be downloaded by clicking here. The entry rules and guidelines are available in English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Chinese, Russian and Arabic. The entries will be judged by an international jury composed of 13 recognized experts in the field of press photography, chaired by James Colton (USA), photo editor for Sports Illustrated.

3-month photography residency: £6,000

Queen University are seeking, under the auspices of the CELT scheme in the Creative Arts, an artist of international stature for a residency in spring 2006 (March – May). He/she will work on a freely chosen project with support from Queens and Belfast Exposed Photography. Preference may be given to those who address contemporary life in Northern Ireland and issues around social change.

The resident artist will be expected to deliver a number of workshops to photography students and participate in the academic life of the School of Languages, Literature and Arts at Queens.

The residency will attract a fee of GB £6000 plus support for materials and travel.

Applicants interested in this residency should submit the following:

* Curriculum vitae indicating professional achievement and projects undertaken
* Sketch for a proposed project (800 words max)
* Some recent examples of their image work (in digital form)

This should be emailed to: Desmond Bell, Head of Film Studies, [email protected]
by Thursday 1st December to whom enquiries should be directed. For information on Film and Imaging at Queens University Belfast see www.qub.ac.uk/film/ and on Belfast Exposed Photography: www.belfastexposed.org

Deutsche Börse Photography Prize winner

French photographer, Luc Delahaye (b. 1962), has been awarded the £30,000 Deutsche Börse Photography Prize 2005, the annual award organised by The Photographers' Gallery. His work, along with that of the three other shortlisted photographers, is on show at the Great Newport Street gallery, London WC2, until 5 June. As contemporary gallery practice dictates the images have been enlarged way beyond their capacity: they are almost 2.5 metres wide. Apparently shot on 35mm film this does them no favours; no doubt the judges viewed them at long range and without spectacles.

Schweppes Portrait Prize entry call

Entries are open for the Schweppes Photographic Portrait Prize 2005 run in association with the National Portait Gallery; the closing date is 22 July. The overall winner will pick up £15,000, with the £5000 Deloitte Award going to a photographer aged 25 or under at the beginning of this year. You can download entry information from the NPG's website.