SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, Oct. 13 (EUROPA PRESS) –
Miguel Velasco Almendral has achieved, thanks to the series of photographs ‘Chronology of migration in Tenerife’, the first prize in the series modality of the IX Regional Contest of Informative and Documentary Photography organized by the Culture area of the Cabildo through Tenerife Espacio de las Artes (TEA) and the Tenerife Island Photography Center.
This contest, which is included in the 16th edition of the Tenerife Fotonovlermo International Photography Biennial, awards Arturo Jiménez Rivero the second prize for ‘Un volcano, two stories’. The jury also decided to make a special mention of the work ‘Entre bambalinas’, by Carlos de Saá González. In the individual category, the first prize went to Carlos de Saá González for his work ‘Promised Land’, and the second prize went to Angharad Rojo Martín for ‘In Tui We Trust’.
From the winning series, ‘Chronology of migration in Tenerife’, the jury valued the narrative capacity, as well as the commitment to history to bring citizens closer to the processes that migrants go through in a specific territory such as that of the islands. On the other hand, the jury highlighted the technical solvency. In the case of ‘A volcano, two stories’, the jury based its decision on the photographer’s ability to fully narrate a highly complex circumstance, as well as the photographer’s involvement in it. From the series by Carlos de Saá González, his ability to make visible the subtlety of artistic processes by involving the public in it stands out.
Of the photographs awarded in the individual category, the jury valued, in both cases, both the social relevance of said images and the capacity and technical and compositional solvency of the two winning proposals, both being a sample of the ability of photography to bring us closer to the surrounding reality and yet not always palpable.
This contest was created in 2005 with the aim of drawing attention to documentary photography as an instrument of social communication and a means to disseminate Canarian news among society in general. In this edition, the winner of the first prize for the best photographic series will receive 1,500 euros and the second will receive 1,000 euros. In the category of individual photography, the winner of the first prize will receive 800 euros, and the second, 600 euros. In addition, the awarded photographs and a selection of the works presented will be part of an exhibition that will take place between November and December within the framework of November 2021.
The jury, which unanimously decided to award these prizes, analyzed the 34 series and 52 individual photographs that were submitted to the ninth edition of this contest. The jury was made up of the director of Fotonov Diciembre 2021, Teresa Arozena, as president; Alejandro Togores, Verónica Galán and Andrés Gutiérrez, as members; Gilberto González, as representative of TEA acting without vote; and Mercedes Padilla, TEA technician, as secretary, who acted without vote.
Photo November 2021 is an event in which different aspects related to contemporary art, new technologies, photographic heritage, personal creation and the evolution of the medium itself are integrated under the common denominator of the image. The main mission of this biennial, which has been held in Tenerife since 1991 and which has become one of the promoters of the photographic image both in the Canary Islands and abroad, is to enable and disseminate a broad reflection on the image as a means of expression, communication and cultural participation.
Based, at first, on the study, discussion and dissemination of photography, Fotonov Diciembre has been incorporating over the years other fundamental manifestations to understand our society as a visual culture. Consolidated throughout its trajectory by the quality, rigor and participation of a large number of artists and institutions, Fotonovlermo tries to take the pulse of contemporary photography and the relationship that different disciplines establish with it.
