PHOTOARTDOC 2026
contest results
OPEN NOMINATION
Results of the contest in the open nomination PhotoArtDoc 2026.
Topic -Transformation / State of Transition.
This year, authors from 30 countries participated in the open nomination. Following the jury's deliberations, three projects were selected as winners, each offering a different approach to understanding transformation – through personal experience, issues of identity, and
The winners of the open nomination were determined by the international jury: Tatsiana Chypsanava (Belarus / New Zealand), Michael Grieve (Germany / Greece), Tadas Kazakevicius (Lithuania), Adam Mazur (Poland), Katerуna Radchenko Ukraine.
В shortlist of the nomination 10 projects were chosen.
As a result of the multi-selection process, voting, and discussions, the jury members identified three top projects in the nomination without ranking them.
● "Sorry, something went wrong" / Evgenii Garkusha (Ukraine / Spain)
● CACNER / Palina Turko Belarus
● "Solar Recordings of Phone Calls with Family, Friends and Scammers" / Bart Urbanski (Poland / Scotland)
The project «Inevitable Torment of Desire» received special mention from the jury members.» Marie-Denise Dessimoz (Greece / Switzerland).
The PhotoArtDoc 2026 jury noted the diversity of photographic approaches presented in the open category and the different ways in which the authors approach the theme of transformation—through personal experience, social contexts, memory, and formal strategies.
The jury recognized projects in which form does not illustrate an idea, but is part of its manifestation—through work with time, evidence, image, and fragments of personal and collective experience.
The final selection reflects the coexistence of various photographic practices and approaches to contemporary affairs—from documentary observation to more conceptual and artistic approaches. It is this diversity, according to the jury, that allows us to discuss transformation as a complex and multilayered state, rather than a single, fixed narrative.
Congratulations to the winners and thanks to all authors who participated in the PhotoArtDoc 2026 open nomination!
The best projects in the open nomination
Sorry, something went wrong
/ Author Evgenii Garkusha
(Ukraine / Spain)
A project about the disintegration of identity and the loss of home caused by the Russian occupation of Ukrainian territories, war, and forced adaptation, through which personal and family memory, the experience of the annexation of Crimea, and subsequent losses become part of a system in which people gradually lose their integrity and right to self-determination.
Cancer
/ Author Palina Turko
Belarus
Palina Turko's project chronicles the life of a family confronted with the mother's diagnosis of brain cancer. Through a combination of documentary photography and hand-crafted imagery, the author explores not the disease itself, but the relationships, emotional connections, and internal transformations experienced by three close individuals—mother, daughter, and younger sister.
Solar Recordings of Phone Calls with Family, Friends and Scammers
/ Author Bart Urbanski
(Poland / Scotland)
The project is based on an unusual photographic method: the length of the exposure is determined by the duration of a telephone conversation, and the movement of the sun becomes a visual trace of human communication. The work explores connection, distance, and time, transforming everyday conversations into a material archive of relationships, memory, and absence.
Jury’s Honorable Mention
The Inevitable Anguish of Desire
/ Author Maria Denise Dessimoz
(Greece / Switzerland)
A personal, reflective project about navigating complex emotional states, finding inner support, and the healing process. Using photography as a space for dialogue with her own subconscious, the author creates a visual diary in which pain gradually transforms into acceptance and light.
