Balkan Photo Festival | |
---|---|
Genre | Photography festival |
Date(s) | January |
Frequency | annual |
Location(s) | Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina |
Years active | 2010 - present |
Founder | Urban Foundation |
Area | worldwide |
Organised by | Urban Foundation |
Website | balkanphotofest |
Balkan Photo Festival is an annual photography festival held in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. [1] [2] [3] [4] It is held in January of every year and is the legal successor of the now-defunct Festival of Bosnian Photography. [5] The festival was established in 2010 by the Urban Foundation in cooperation with the Association of Professional Photographers of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the online photography journal fotografija.ba. [6] [7] The 2011 edition was the first to be internationalized. [8] Balkan Photo Festival is the largest photography festival in the Balkans, receiving more than 5,000 submissions annually. [9] [10] [11]
The festival is composed of three main programs: competition, education and networking. [12] [13] The competition program is further composed of 11 categories out of which 11 eventual winners are chosen. The 11 categories are as follows: Nudity, Fashion, Cultural Heritage, Mobile Phone, Sports and Leisure, Portrait, Abstract, Nature and Landscapes, News and Politics, Press. [14] Submissions for the competition program are accepted from the beginning of December with the final selection being made during the first week of January. [15] The festival is opened on the last Monday of January with a large festival-long exhibition of all the photographs selected for the competition program. [16] A panel made up of eminent international photographers judges the entries and decides on the winners. [17] [18] The winners receive the Balkan Photo Award in their category. [19] The education program kicks off after the festival opening and is made up of lectures and workshops organized in numerous venues across the city. [20] The networking program, which is of an informal nature, includes round table discussions, tours of the city called photo safaris, interactive café lectures and concerts. [21] The 2017 edition established the Justice for Every Child program in cooperation with UNICEF. [22] [23] [24]
Selected winners:
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