Amongst all the entrants, including both winners, nominated and other selected pictures and videos, Petr Slavík came top at the 22nd annual Czech Press Photo. He received the E-M10 Mark II +14-150mm II camera from our partner, Olympus.
Slavík’s photograph, ‘Sky Riders’ shows a cyclist on the summit of mountains in the early morning. ‘The picture’s author did not use a traditional SLR camera to ensure as much flexibility and mobility as possible. This resulted in a photograph taken under extreme conditions. To get photos like this, the photographer often gets up at two in the morning. He pushes his bike up to the top of mountain ridges while equipped with a rucksack and sleeping bag,’ explains Veronika Souralová, head of the Czech Press Photo contest. ‘I sent the photograph in to the contest at the last minute before closure. It was worth it in the end,’ says Slavík.
Another photographer whose picture visitors chose as amongst the three best is freelance photographer Vladimír Čech ml. His photo, ‘We’re in it together’ captures three tigers journeying along a road in India. ‘It was what they call love at first sight. I was attracted to the picture at once, and I still am,’ admits Čech.
‘Night in the tropical rainforest’ by Petr Bambousek also received an award. ‘As soon as darkness falls in the tropical rainforest, the whole biotope gets a new face. Creatures which hide during the day come out at night, and the surroundings become entirely different,’ says Bambousek of how the photograph came about.
The best video, which was voted on both by exhibition visitors and users of a special website, was the television report, ‘Sidetracked Victims’. ‘For eight years now, the victims of the tragedy at Studénka have been awaiting the court verdict on who is responsible for the fall of the bridge on the railway line here. Eight people died, and almost a hundred others were injured. Determining who is responsible is required before damages can be later awarded. So far, damages have been hard to get. Yet Czech Railways has already received compensation from Eurovia construction company. As we have discovered, they have received over fifty million crowns,’ says documentary author, Silvie Kleková. The winner received a year’s free access to Prima Play Premium and a TV Prima gift package.
The 22nd annual Czech Press Photo exhibition took place in the Old Town Hall, Prague, from 22 November last year to 30 January this year. The official awarding of the Visitors Award took place on 30 January within the Czech Photo Centre gallery. In the picture, freelance photographer Petr Slavík receives the main prize from Veronika Souralová.
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Photography source: Czech Press Photo
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