Como sabréis, LensCulture es una plataforma que tiene como objetivo "descubrir lo mejor de la fotografía contemporánea y compartirlo con la mayor audiencia posible"; por este motivo, en sus más de quince años de vida han venido organizando distintos concursos de fotografía cuya misión es dar visibilidad a los fotógrafos. Es el caso del LensCulture 2020 Critics’ Choice, nuevo certamen cuyas fotos vencedoras os vamos a mostrar.
La idea de este concurso es brindar a más fotógrafos una visibilidad directa a través de un sencillo mecanismo: presentar sus imágenes ante un panel de 20 influyentes críticos internacionales. Éstos debían revisar las fotos presentadas (no dan datos concretos, sólo que participaron fotógrafos de más de 150 países) y elegir tres trabajos favoritos explicando (cómo no) el porqué de su elección.
Sara Seid, General Practitioner and a proud frontier against Covid-19. I thought my country would be immune. I was shocked numb when the first case was reported in Ethiopia. It was a wake up call and I immediately joined the Covid-19 task force without giving it a second thought. My first duty was the scariest moment of my life. My family is always reminding me of the Hippocratic oath I made at my graduation. They make me feel like I am a solider in a war. © Yonas Tadesse
El resultado son 48 fotógrafos premiados provenientes de 20 países (de seis continentes), entre los cuales se destaca un Top ten de diez artistas. Estos son los que fueron seleccionados por más de un crítico y/o tuvieron las calificaciones más altas entre todas las presentaciones, y cada uno de ellos se lleva un premio en efectivo de mil dólares en reconocimiento a su trabajo.
Sus fotos son "una mezcla ecléctica" ya que nos invitan a observar imágenes de una "amplia gama de temas, enfoques artísticos y puntos de vista. Esta es una oportunidad para descubrir muchos trabajos nuevos e inspiradores, y también una oportunidad única para aprender, directamente de los expertos, qué hace que estas fotografías y series sean tan especiales para ellos".
Lamentablemente no hay ningún español entre los premiados, aunque podemos destacar algunos trabajos como 'No Memory is Ever Alone' de la norteamericana Catherine Panebianco, donde a través de diapositivas hechas en Kodachrome la autora configura un viaje nostálgico por sus recuerdos familiares.
Meditative Musing © Catherine Panebianco
Pero sin duda el tema recurrente de muchas de las fotografías presentadas era la pandemia del coronavirus. Alrededor de ello giraban varias de las series elegidas como 'Behind Glass' de la australiana Lisa Sorgini, 'Measure and Middle - A Journey through Germany during the Covid-19 Pandemic', del alemán Ingmar Björn Nolting, y ‘Looking Out from Within’, de la británica Julia Fullerton-Batten.
Como siempre os dejamos con las imágenes ganadoras, en este caso con las elegidas en el Top Ten y os recomendamos una visita a la web; y no sólo para ver más interesantes fotos sino también para saber, de boca del jurado, porqué fueron elegidas.
Ganadores Top Ten LensCulture 2020 Critic's Choice:
Catherine Panebianco (EE.UU) con la serie ‘No Memory is Ever Alone’:
Uncertain Quest © Catherine Panebianco
Isolated Warmth © Catherine Panebianco
Racing Time © Catherine Panebianco
Javier Vergara (Chile) con la foto ‘Chile Resists’:
Chile Resists. Demonstrators protect themselves with a shield from a water cannon used by the Special Police Forces during protests in Chile. November 11th, 2019. Santiago, Chile. © Javier Vergara
Lisa Sorgini (Australia) con la serie ‘Behind Glass’:
Ari, Elio and I in the Bedroom © Lisa Sorgini
Amanda, Reggie and Herbie in the Living Room © Lisa Sorgini
Jordana and Minty in the Spare Room © Lisa Sorgini
Maxine Helfman (EE.UU) con la foto ‘Untitled, Portrait’:
Untitled, Portrait © Maxine Helfman
Ingmar Björn Nolting (Alemania) con la serie ‘Measure and Middle - A Journey through Germany during the Covid-19 Pandemic’:
An international border runs between Konstanz, Germany, and Kreuzlingen, Switzerland, but residents moved freely between the municipalities before the Covid-19 pandemic. Then, in hopes of limiting infections, officials erected first one fence and, two weeks later, a second one, with a gap of several feet in between. The goal was to prevent the physical contact that these young couples managed on April 18, along a stretch where there’s still only a single barrier. © Ingmar Björn Nolting
Hospital beds are available for the makeshift hospital to be set up in the exhibition halls of Hanover Fair on April 4. The makeshift hospital is to be used when all other possibilities are exhausted. In the exhibition halls, treatment facilities are to be created for 500 Covid-19 patients who do not require intensive medical treatment, but who can no longer be cared for at home due to the course of their disease. © Ingmar Björn Nolting
Dr. Roland Kolepke poses for a portrait shortly before the start of his shift at the Covid-19 test centre at the Ludwigsburg Hospital on March 25. In Germany, tests are carried out on a comparatively large scale. © Ingmar Björn Nolting
Snezhana von Büdingen (Alemania) con la serie ‘Meeting Sofie’:
Sofie with her mother Barbara © Snezhana von Büdingen
Sofie with cigarette © Snezhana von Büdingen
Sofie hanging out with her brother’s friends © Snezhana von Büdingen
Julia Fullerton-Batten (Reino Unido) con la serie ‘Looking Out from Within’:
Chloe, Lockdown Day 19. “The thing that Covid-19 has effected the most for me is my work-home life balance. I work as a performer and designer, so the majority of my work happens in the evenings. For the first time in a long time, my evenings are my own again. It’s a strange time, because it feels a lot like we are living in both the past and the future. Time has slowed.” © Julia Fullerton-Batten
Jamal, Lockdown Day 22. I am Jamal. I am autistic. I live with my Mum and my cat Romeo. I cannot go to Sports Club or Mencap. I miss my carers, Aaron and Lolo, I might see them in May or maybe June, I’m not sure. © Julia Fullerton-Batten
Karen, Lockdown Day 24. Living with this new virus requires us to come up with a new list of priorities, appreciate the basics, reduce the speed of chasing goals and to lean to assess activities more by their intrinsic value and not so much by their financial reward. I spend a lot of my time trying to follow the scientific research into Covid-19 to learn how life with the virus could shape our future, © Julia Fullerton-Batten
Wang Lu (China) con la serie ‘Frozen are the Winds of Time’:
Frozen are the winds of time #18 © Wang Lu
Frozen are the winds of time #24 © Wang Lu
Frozen are the winds of time #16 © Wang Lu
Vanja Bucan (Eslovenia) con la serie ‘Concrete Flowers’:
Untitled, Concrete Flowers, 2019 © Vanja Bucan
Untitled, Concrete Flowers, 2020 © Vanja Bucan
Untitled, Concrete Flowers, 2019 © Vanja Bucan
Sara Bennett (EE.UU) con la serie ‘Looking Inside: Portraits of Women Serving Life Sentences’:
SAHIAH, 23, in the college library at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility (2019). “Being incarcerated at such a young age, in the beginning I felt as if my life was over. But as the days and the time went by I knew that God had a special plan and purpose for me. There is light at the end of my tunnel. I will be free.” © Sara Bennett
LINDA, 70, in the rec room for the medically unemployed at Taconic Correctional Facility (2019). “This is my 27th year being incarcerated. I’ve been scared, lonely, hurt, disappointed and forgotten. When I got here 11 months ago, I couldn’t believe all the women I had done time with were still here going to Board after Board, and never getting out. Will that happen to me? I do my hair and makeup every day. It makes me feel good. But on the inside, I’m breaking down…” © Sara Bennett
ANDREA, 64, in a rec room at Taconic Correctional Facility (2019). “When I first came in it was weird, but I learn to deal with it by going to church and working, studying for my God. Reading, bible studies, just doing me. My upbeat attitude comes from Jesus. As a woman who has rebuilt herself. I love being in my 60s because I have seen and heard about so many people I know dying.” © Sara Bennett
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