For the second year, the Czech Photo organisation announces the Czech Press Photo competition in a situation affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Due to government regulations, last year’s exhibition could not be opened on the original date, and can now be seen in the National Museum. The event just announced will be the first one to take place under the leadership of renowned reportage photographer Dan Materna, who brought the People We’re Talking About category back into the competition. Just like every year, authors can enter photos for the competition from the 1st to the 30th of September, using an online form.
Photo: Vít Šimánek
The jury will be composed of: Chairman of the jury – ČTK Photo Bank head Petr Mlch, Adrian Evans, Director of the Panos Pictures agency in Great Britain, Sean Gallup, Chief Photographer in Getty Images in Germany, Alžběta Jungrová, a photographer from the 400ASA group, and Jan Zátorský, a photographer in the Mafra media house. The international jury will select from the entered photos from the 17th to the 19 of October in the Czech Photo Centre gallery.
The Czech Press Photo 2021 competition has announced eight photographic galleries: News, Reportage, Everyday Life, Art and Culture, Sport, Portrait, Man and the Environment, and People We’re Talking About. As usual, the annual creative scholarship Grant Prahy [Prague Grant] will be awarded; it will be selected and awarded by the Mayor of Prague.
“Since the closing date of last year’s Czech Press Photo competition, many important events took place that photographers documented. In addition to the continuing Covid-19 pandemic, we also suffered a catastrophe in the form of a tornado in South Moravia. Many Czech photo reporters will set off for the postponed Olympic Games in Tokyo. The parliamentary elections await us In the autumn, with the pre-election campaigns already slowly starting. This and other facts have led us to bring the People We’re Talking About category back into the competition. We chose the jury very carefully, and I’m glad that it will include Sean Gallup, Chief Photographer of the German branch of Getty Images. Until recently, Sean also took photographs in the Czech Republic, and I often met him at events,“ says competition manager Dan Materna.
This is the third year that the exhibition has included Photo of the Month, which capture the most important events in the given month. Series of the Month was added this year. Photos are sent directly by the editorial offices of most media houses. The winner is selected by the Czech Photo Administrative and Supervisory Board.
The competition will now include Czech Photo Junior, for primary school pupils and secondary school students. The competition will take place in three age categories. Young photographers will be able to send photos until the competition’s closing date, 30/09/2021. An evaluation of the best photos will take place together with the Czech Press Photo professional competition.
Photographs can be entered can be entered in the Czech Press Photo 2021 competition during the month of September, only electronically, via the form published on the competition website. The competition is opened to publishers, agencies, professional photographers, vocational schools and established freelance photographers who have a permanent residence in the Czech Republic or Slovakia, and whose work was created for the purpose of publication in the media. All authors must prove their professionalism, according to the competition’s rules. The entrance fee for registering for the photographs category is 1,000 CZK / €39, and persons under 23 years of age are exempt.
There will be traditional accompanying awards – Canon Junior Award, UNHCR Award, PICTOART Award, Goodwill Committee Award – Olga Havel Foundation “My Life With a Disability“, Samsung Award. There will also be a children’s jury organised by Czech Radio, which will select a photo from a different perspective.
The Czech Press Photo 2021 competition and exhibition is organised by Czech Photo, o.p.s., under the patronage of the Mayor of the Capital City of Prague and the Minister of Culture.
General partner: Trigema
Exhibition co-organiser: National Museum
Partners: Koupelny Ptáček, CeWe, eContest, Siko, Renomia, Berlitz, Cobra, Pictoart, Canon, Eizo, Samsung, Laufen, Nielsen, Soliter, Newton Media, VDV, UNHCR, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University
Main media partner: Mafra, a.s., and Czech Radio 1 – Radio Journal
Media partners: ČTK, Reflex, Radio DAB, National Geographic, Prima ZOOM, Lidé a Země [People and the Earth]
Press release in .pdf