Czech Press Photo Jury to Include Ami Vitale and João Silva

The international photo jury at Czech Press Photo 2018 will be headed up by Petr Josek, a photojournalist for Reuters, who has received a number of awards, including Czech Press Photo Photo of the Year, which he acquired back in 1997. Other leading talents have also accepted participation in the photo contest’s jury: Ami Vitale, a photographer and filmmaker from the USA, winner of World Press Photo 2017. The jury will also see the participation of the South African war photographer João Silva, Panos Pictures’ director Adrian Evans from Great Britain, and Tamas Szigeti, a photographer and the president of Hungary’s organisation for professional photographers. The jury’s Czech representatives will include Karel Cudlín, the educator and photography theoretician Filip Láb, ČTK photo bank chief editor Petr Mlch, and the sports photographer Martina Navrátilová.

The chair of the video jury will as usual be the director, script writer, and producer Josef Harvan. Video works will be evaluated by a team including Mr. Harvan and the director and educator Olga Sommerová, the film editor and educator Alois Fišárek, the cameraman Jan Vaniš, the photographer Miro Švolík, and the marketing specialist Martina Hyndráková.

The video jury will be evaluating the competition entries within the spaces of the multi-genre Czech Photo Centre on October 11th, and the photo jury will be doing so on October 12th through the 14th.

Czech Press Photo 2018 will have eight photo categories and three video categories. The photo categories are as follows: Current events; Problems of Our Times; Daily Life, Arts and Culture; Sports; Portraits; Nature; Science and the Environment; and Lifestyle. The video section offers three categories: Current Events and Reportage; Features; and Investigation. The jury will also be evaluating photos for the Photograph of the Year title, which will be granted by an international jury to a picture that excels in terms of its journalistic qualities (topicality, informativeness, expressiveness, and preparedness), has a significant aesthetic aspect, and symbolizes an important topic for the year. The winner of this prize will obtain a financial reward in the amount of 120,000 CZK and a glass trophy, the Crystal Eye.

“We have also newly introduced a Photograph of the Month section, which we will be publishing throughout the year at the end of every month. Through this feature, the Czech Photo team will be presenting a selection of photographs that played a fundamental reporting role in the given month. We wish in this way to acknowledge the work of photojournalists who cover events at home and abroad every day. Another goal is to maintain the public’s awareness of high quality professional photojournalism not just during the Czech Press Photo contest, but also over the course of the year,” states Veronika Souralová, the director of the Czech Press Photo contest.

The prize-winning photos evoke discussions every year. And this is precisely the role that Czech Press Photo is meant to play. This year, exceptional attention will be paid to debates on the role of photographs and journalism during the competition’s accompanying program as well. The very first event will be a presentation by and a round table with the South African photographer João Silva, to be held on October 15th starting at 5 p.m. at Czech Photo Centre. Visitors will have a unique opportunity to speak personally with a photographer who works in the most dangerous of war zones and who has been seriously injured while pursuing his mission.

Individual photographs and videos can be entered into the Czech Press Photo 2018 contest over the course of September. All entries must be submitted digitally, via a form published on the competition website. The contest is open to publishers, agencies, professional photographers, photography schools, and freelance photographers. Entrants must have permanent residence in the Czech Republic or Slovakia and must have produced their works for publishing in the media. The entry fee for the photography category is 800 CZK/29 EUR; young adults under the age of 24 do not pay a fee. Participation in the video category is completely free.

Special awards: The Czech Press Photo 2018 Prague grant, the Canon Junior awards, the ČTK (Czech Press Agency) award, the UNHCR award, the PICTOART Award, and the Committee of Good Will – Olga Havlová Foundation’s “My Life with a Handicap” award. A children’s jury assembled by Czech Radio will also be meeting and selecting a picture based on their special perspective. Naturally there will also be an Audience Award, picked by visitors themselves during the exhibition.

The Czech Press Photo 2018 competition and exhibition are organized by: Czech Photo o.p.s., under the auspices of the Mayor of Prague and the Czech Ministry of Culture.

Generl partner: Trigema
Main partners: Olympus, ProCeram.
Partners: Berlitz, Canon, the Charles University Faculty of Social Sciences, EOX, Siko, Ptáček-koupelny, Renomia, ČTK, UNHCR, EIZO, Samsung, Pictoart, the Committee of Good Will – Olga Havlová Foundation, Rückl Crystal, and Nielsen
Main media partner: Český rozhlas 1 - Radiožurnál
Media partners: Právo, Novinky.cz, Forbes, Lidé a Země, Prima ZOOM, Prague TV
This year’s main prize has been crafted by Rückl Crystal

Press release in .docx format
Press release in  .zip format

Contacts and further information:
Czech Photo: Public relations - Radek Polák, +420 778 747 113, polak@czechpressphoto.cz, www.czechphoto.org

Source of photography: Czech Press Photo