PHOTOARTDOC 2024
contest results
CLOSED NOMINATION
The closed nomination featured projects by Belarusian photographers who participated in the educational and mentoring program of the PhotoArtDoc festival. Over several months, the program participants worked in three groups, each guided by its own mentor. The mentors invited were Belarusian photographers with extensive experience in documentary and project photography: Siarhei Houdzilin, Katerina Kouzmitcheva, and Tatyana Tkacheva. As a result of this program, the participants created projects whose themes were, to varying degrees, related to Belarusians and their lives. Some projects were completed during the program, while others are long-term, and an interim outcome was presented within the framework of the program.
22 projects were submitted to participate in the closed nomination for the competition. Following discussions, the jury members selected three outstanding works without ranking them.
Contest participants were given the opportunity to use pseudonyms.
Skarb
/ Project author Jana Shnipelson
The "Skarb" project is a visual and emotional exploration of the inner world of Belarusians who were forced to leave their homeland after the events of 2020. Amid uncertainty and the search for a new place to call home, "Skarb" aims to preserve and convey the personal stories of those who found themselves far from their country in pursuit of safety and freedom.
At the heart of the project is the concept of objects as bridges between the past and the present, between home and a new, unfamiliar place. Participants in the project shared the most important items to them — things they carefully packed in preparation for an uncertain future and took with them. These items were scanned in the packaging they were prepared in — whether wrapped in plastic, fabric, or a plastic bag.
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Anniversary
/ Project author Cottonyevil
A project about 10 years of friendship, love, hate and happy memories. This deeply personal project is a therapeutic exploration of the complex emotions associated with a man who was simultaneously my best friend, my love, a stranger and a source of pain. Based on my journals, which supported me during the days when we did not communicate, I decided to look at everything that was happening from an observer's perspective.
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In My Shoes
/ Project author Tatyana Chipsanova
"In my shoes" is a documentary photography project about my 17-year-old daughter Lola
and me. It's a story of change, growing up, and the connection between generations. I'm capturing our last year together before Lola leaves for university. These photographs are about her growing up and me growing older. They're about daughters distancing
themselves from their mothers, and the midlife crisis mothers face when their children grow up.
This project explores the challenges of single motherhood and how I raised a wonderful
daughter on my own. It shows how Lola spends time with her friends and how important they are in her life.
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PHOTOARTDOC 2024
contest results
OPEN NOMINATION
Open nomination PhotoArtDoc`24 and the theme ONE'S PLACE attracted the attention of photographers from 40 countries. The international jury faced a difficult task: to choose the 3 best projects out of 230. The members of the jury of the competition: Arthur Bondar (Ukraine/Germany), Siarhey Hudzilin (Belarus/Lithuania), Maira Dudareva (Latvia), Katerina Kouzmitcheva (Belarus/Poland) and Tatyana Tkacheva (Belarus/Germany).
В shortlist of the nomination 10 projects were chosen.
As a result of the multi-stage selection process, voting, and discussions, the jury members identified three top projects in the nomination without ranking them.
Altars of Imagination 2021-2024
/ Project author Maria Vittoria Desiato
From the text about the project: «In 2021, I relocated to the Netherlands, carrying only a suitcase and backpack due to limited space. This meant leaving behind many of my memories.
Growing up with a large family photographic archive, I found myself in a foreign country with no memories.
So I decided to go in search of new images and create my own Dutch family archive».
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No Man’s Wedding
/ Project authors Duo Carolina Dutca and Valentin Sidorenko
About the project: «No Man’s Wedding is a twisted wonderland filled with symbols, rituals and games, which from time immemorial imitated life and death.
The avenue we've chosen is that of a fairy tale. What is a fairy tale? It's a repository of archetypes and mythological narratives. These narratives offer codes that aid in deciphering the existential causes of the war».
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Place of power
/ Project author Natasha Lozinskaya
About the project: «Okunevo - at first glance is a very ordinary Siberian village. Like in many Russian villages, it seems here that life and world order have not changed for many years.
But in the 1990s, a woman named Rasma Rozitis came to the village directly from India on
behalf of an Indian guru and said that the ancient temple of Hanuman was in this place above or
under one of the lakes. She said that the temple had magical powers. Since then, Okunevo has
been called the place of power».
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