We are pleased to present the curated selection of 18 projects from the inaugural Der Greif and the World Photo Organisation open call. Directed towards emerging artists working in the medium of photography, this opportunity attracted 1.157 photographers who submitted a total of 10.119 images.
Submissions were judged by Mike Trow, curator, editor and chair of the Professional competition of the 2019 Sony World Photography Awards.
"Contemporary art photography is a tricky beast. What makes a photo story an art piece or something that stands alone? There are a myriad of theories but for me, and I hope you may feel something the same, the best art photography challenges norms and forces us to confront notions of existence and history, of uncomfortable sexuality, of the nature of liberty or repression and a myriad of ideas that photography can shine a light on," says Trow.
He goes on to say that he thinks the pieces chosen here give a roundup of where he feels contemporary photography succeeds. "Some of the selected works are by established artists and others not so much, but they all have a view of reality that gives us genuine food for thought. I know I may have missed many worthy pieces and to those artists who feel aggrieved, I apologize. But my choices here reflect some of my beliefs and a desire to broaden my understanding of the medium. Some are deeply emotional, dealing with notions of personal surveillance, others are about the body, science and just the bizarre imagination made real. I hope this selection causes some debate - and it's legitimate to disagree with the choices. But I also hope this gallery manages to avoid cliche and is visually vibrant and stimulating - and also witty. "The works all speak to me in different ways, very much in the way we like different music at different times and depending on the emotional state we are in.
Trow finds that to be able to look through so much work from around the world, by photographers who believe in what they do, think deeply about what it is they want to say and then to be able to execute the ideas so well is a privilege: "I found it very challenging mentally to have to make decisions on such personal work. The process of editing down made me question much about what is to like something and why. I like all the submissions here very much and because they are quite varied I have no particular favorite. But Der Greif is such an excellent and brave magazine to bring this work to the fore. It creates debate and gives great value to modern photography outside of our daily diet of retouched perfection and throw away images. They work with so many terrific curators and artists and I am fortunate to be a small part of this. Doing this gallery in conjunction with the World Photography Organisation will, I hope,l bring this work to a wider global audience and drive artists to push and experiment more with their practice."
Text: World Photography Organisation
Link: World Photography Organisation - Curated selection
"Contemporary art photography is a tricky beast. What makes a photo story an art piece or something that stands alone? There are a myriad of theories but for me, and I hope you may feel something the same, the best art photography challenges norms and forces us to confront notions of existence and history, of uncomfortable sexuality, of the nature of liberty or repression and a myriad of ideas that photography can shine a light on," says Trow.
He goes on to say that he thinks the pieces chosen here give a roundup of where he feels contemporary photography succeeds. "Some of the selected works are by established artists and others not so much, but they all have a view of reality that gives us genuine food for thought. I know I may have missed many worthy pieces and to those artists who feel aggrieved, I apologize. But my choices here reflect some of my beliefs and a desire to broaden my understanding of the medium. Some are deeply emotional, dealing with notions of personal surveillance, others are about the body, science and just the bizarre imagination made real. I hope this selection causes some debate - and it's legitimate to disagree with the choices. But I also hope this gallery manages to avoid cliche and is visually vibrant and stimulating - and also witty. "The works all speak to me in different ways, very much in the way we like different music at different times and depending on the emotional state we are in.
Trow finds that to be able to look through so much work from around the world, by photographers who believe in what they do, think deeply about what it is they want to say and then to be able to execute the ideas so well is a privilege: "I found it very challenging mentally to have to make decisions on such personal work. The process of editing down made me question much about what is to like something and why. I like all the submissions here very much and because they are quite varied I have no particular favorite. But Der Greif is such an excellent and brave magazine to bring this work to the fore. It creates debate and gives great value to modern photography outside of our daily diet of retouched perfection and throw away images. They work with so many terrific curators and artists and I am fortunate to be a small part of this. Doing this gallery in conjunction with the World Photography Organisation will, I hope,l bring this work to a wider global audience and drive artists to push and experiment more with their practice."
Text: World Photography Organisation
Link: World Photography Organisation - Curated selection
