1ST PRIZE — LORENZO POLI

Spirals of the Anthropocene

“This photographic investigation is a personal reflection on human values and how they carve into the Land. As a European architect expanding into the metaphysical realms of the visual arts, I traversed South America’s mining territories for 18 months in search of meaning.

I sought to engage with the spiritual dimensions of our epoch, immersing myself in monumental voids descending into the Earth. What emerged transcended the commodification of minerals; these voids stand as testaments to humanity’s aspirations…”

→ See the full series and what our jury had to say here

2ND PRIZE — PIE AERTS

Los Puesteros

“In the remote southern reaches of Chilean Patagonia, a small group of “puesteros” lives in complete isolation. Decades of seclusion and exploitation have taken a heavy toll, leaving these men struggling with profound mental health issues. Barely any social interaction, backbreaking physical labor, a shifting climate, financial insecurity and a lack of retirement provisions, fuel high degrees of alcoholism and suicide within the community. Yet, despite the consistent hardships, these men face the erosion of their culture and fading identity with remarkable dignity, resilience, and pride.

Their interweaving stories reveal an intimate portrait of a forgotten people, a forgotten land, and a forgotten culture. Pulling back the stoic curtain on a culture driven by masculinity and fortitude over vulnerability and fragility, displayed a complex internal dialogue, in which these puesteros continuously shift between embracing and resisting the inevitable end of their traditions and way of life…”

→ See the full series and what our jury had to say here

SHORTLIST

Nine further series that caught our attention

ALEXANDRE ALLOUL : Paradis Moderne

“Since the invention of “Freak shows” by Barnum in 1871, the funfair seems to have branched off to forever form its parallel world, a world in chiasmus made of bearded women and cotton candy, roller coasters and American fantasies. Since then, the fairgrounds have been able to preserve and amplify these places of collective wonder, made of pastiche installations of society as a summary of the world, these modern paradises both perceived as kitsch by adults, and marvellous by children, like a universal melancholy poetry.

Looking towards the sky in the natural light of the sweet end of summer days, over several years and in several countries for this work, I captured the furtive moments of this singular aesthetic language which makes up our popular culture and seems to escape the influence of time and fashion.”

SIMON MARTIN : Argleton

“There’s something about the way the fog clings to the edges of this place, like the memory of a world that once mattered, but has now been softened into nothingness. The air smells faintly of rust and wet earth, where old factories once hummed, their bones half-buried beneath tangled ivy and the murmur of windswept weeds.

The village has a strange quietness to it, not the peaceful stillness of a rural retreat, but a kind of anticipatory silence, as if the earth itself knows something is coming, something ominous, yet cannot stop it. Everywhere you look, you see signs of the past, as though time has paused here, waiting to be overwritten. The canals, once vessels of trade, now flow sluggishly through the land, their waters carrying the refuse of forgotten promises. And in the fields that stretch out beyond the town, a patchwork of green is slowly being chipped away, paved over with the cold efficiency of progress. New houses, new roads–new futures, they say…

…I don’t know where Argleton is headed. None of us do. There’s talk of new roads, new houses, new businesses–all of it meant to breathe new life into the land, to bury the village beneath the weight of development. But I can’t help but think of the land as something more than what can be made of it, more than a commodity to be bought and sold…”

MARI SAXON : Bizarre Family Album

“The sudden forced emigration wrenched me from calm and comfortable life of a middle-aged architect into the one of an exile in a new land. Everything is upended here, and my task now is to navigate unfamiliar terrain and somehow find my place in this new world.

Amid all of this, I began constructing a private, fairy-tale world hidden from prying eyes, which only my two daughters have access to. The world where the boundaries of possibility dissolve, the feminine fantasyland sprung from the bedtime tales mothers weave for their children. Yet, this world is steeped in a profound sense of homesickness…

…In our fantasyland, nothing is permanent. Everything shifts, transforms. Mother, witch, queen; daughter-girl, daughter-child, daughter-doll–each character blending into the next, caught in a constant state of transformation. There is no fixed point, only the shimmering transitions between them. And no end here, even a happy one.”

MARIO WONG : A Season Shade

“Why do the seasons always return, four in one year? They unveil impermanence within permanence, a cycle that endlessly repeats, yet never remains the same. Like the changing seasons, I am bound to my essence, while I feel as though I am always in flux. It’s as if I am caught in an eternal cycle of transformation, much like the fleeting moments I captured, never fully becoming, yet never truly staying.

This work explores the paradox between impermanence and permanence, employing the cyclical nature of the seasons as a metaphor for my internal struggles. It reflects the tension between the desire for personal transformation and the quest to discover my true self, offering a lens into the nature of identity and the transformative journey in life.”

ANAIS STUPKA : Untitled

“Growing up across 14 countries, my lens captures diverse essences and deeper truths. Whether photographing physical details or aura, I transcend surfaces to unveil the remarkable in the overlooked. Driven by an insatiable curiosity and love for the world, I create captivating experiences that invoke wonder. Continually evolving while remaining rooted in spotlighting truth and magic, my artwork invites us to embrace the beauty in simply being one’s authentic self. My images enthral with their celebration of life’s vibrant humanity.”

ROMANO P RIEDO : Hinterland

“These images represent a small selection of photographs taken during a longterm project about alpine agriculture in Switzerland, focussing on the daily life conditions of farmer families and their cattle in not so remote mountain areas. Mountain farming in high altitude environments has been hit especially hard by the crisis in the agricultural sector over the last decades often suffering a double handicap due to tough living conditions. Despite the hard work many struggle to make ends meet. Loneliness and isolation can be an issue.”

GABRIELLE KANNEMEYER : When I Opened My Eyes, There Were Horses

“I was born mixed-race in apartheid South Africa, five years before 1994, part of the first ‘kinda’ born-free generation. My childhood unfolded between two worlds. My mother’s family in the desert lands of the Northern Cape and my dad’s family in Cape Town. Every journey back and forth deepened the cultural divides, leaving me in a liminal space, never fully belonging to either side as a kid. Horses have been a constant thread through these shifting landscapes. My earliest encounters with them were through my father and his friends; working-class Coloured men who built lives with their hands as artisans, painters, tilers, plumbers, mechanics, and tradesmen…

South Africa’s horse culture is often perceived as an elite, predominantly white pursuit, but this is far from the truth. Horses are woven into the fabric of many communities, carrying histories far beyond the pristine arenas of dressage schools…

…This project is an ongoing attempt to make sense of my own identity, through the lens of South Africa’s horse culture. By exploring deep intergenerational bonds of a community, I feel a sense of belonging. It’s a love letter, an archive, a way of preserving not only those personal moments of belonging or the spectacle of the show but also of communities coming together sharing in a great love and a sense of pride.. of the quiet moments in between, where remarkably and gloriously, despite everything, we exist.”

ANNE NOBELS : Burning Lilies

“Burning Lilies is about my conscious choice not to have children. It shows the vulnerability of this choice in itself and its consequences. This choice caused a stir in my and my partner’s circle of friends and family. Despite our choice being made, the opinions and counterarguments remain a sensitive issue. Who will take care of us later? And isn’t it our moral obligation as human beings to procreate? By making myself vulnerable and taking my own experiences as a starting point, I open up the discussion about the taboo of consciously remaining childless.”

MAX GARHAMMER : The Fleeting Beauty of Ice

“Each ice crystal is a unique work of art from nature that only exists for a brief moment. When you point the lens at the icy structures, a mysterious landscape opens up that seems like a universe of its own. Air bubbles that were trapped at the moment of freezing form small, glowing spheres that shine like stars in a distant sky. Ice crystals unfold like tiny, geometric works of art that seem to come from another, invisible universe.

With my camera, I want to capture this fleeting beauty and give the viewer the opportunity to experience the delicate shapes and textures up close. Ice, as cold and solid as it may be, shows an incredible, almost magical variety in its detail and boundaries between reality and fantasy seem to blur.”