In the autumn of 2017, the Lithuanian Press Photographers Club is pleased to present the 11th International Festival of Photojournalism VILNIUS PHOTO CIRCLE.
A PHOTOGRAPHERS’ WEEKEND will be held in Vilnius in October or November, during which lectures and a conference on the theme of ‘Boundaries for Journalism’ will be delivered and the Festival prizes will be awarded.
For the winners and finalists of 2014 and 2015 see: http://www.pressphoto.lt/festival/2014-the-circle-of-life-en-us/ & http://www.pressphoto.lt/festival/2015-gyvenimo-ratas-en-us//

The main part of the festival is the Contest THE CIRCLE OF LIFE, in which press photographers from all over the world can take a part. This Contest is the flag-bearer of the Festival, aimed at promoting the real essence and meaning of photojournalism. It is a contest of photo stories on social themes from our everyday lives. The photo stories must consist of between 5 and 16 pictures. The best six to ten photo stories selected by an international jury will be exhibited during the Festival and published in the journal Photo Circle.

THE DEADLINE for The Circle of Life Contest is 23RD JULY 2017. Please register to upload images online at http://www.photocircle.lt/en. Pictures (for upload) must be JPEG with captions in File info modified with Photoshop or Photo Mechanic. The longest side of picture must be from 3000 to 4500 pixels.

In addition, the Contest HOMEWORK,for young photographers under 30, will be organised within the framework of the Festival. The theme of this year’s Contest is ’Person at Work ‘ (see below). The Tutor and Judge of the contest is Eugenijus Barzdžius, a documentary photographer based in Vilnius, Lithuania. He received a PDN Photo Annual 2013 prize and the Marty Forscher Fellowship Award for outstanding achievements in humanistic photography. For more: see below. He will take part in the Photographers’ Weekend and will comment on the results of this Contest. The best three to five stories will be exhibited during the Festival and published in the journal Photo Circle.

For the winner and finalists of 2014 and 2015 see: http://www.pressphoto.lt/festival/2014-homework/ & http://www.pressphoto.lt/festival/2015-homework/

THE DEADLINE for the Homework Contest is 31ST AUGUST 2017. Please register to upload images online at http://www.photocircle.lt/en. Pictures (for upload) must be JPEG with captions in File info modified with Photoshop or Photo Mechanic. The longest side of picture must be from 3000 to 4500 pixels.

For the participants of both contests we offer guidance from the World Press Photo (WPP): Entry Rules, Code of Ethics and description of manipulation. This is guidance for the photojournalism Festival and the contest. Participants can be requested to present additional information and files for the Contest Verification Process. In the Contests, pictures created since 2013 are eligible, unless part of a long-term project.

Photographers whose pictures are exhibited during the Festival and published in the Photo Circle journal will be provided with a free two-night stay in Vilnius during the Photographers’ Weekend. The nominees for the winner of The Circle of Life Contest (at least five people) and the nominees of the Homework Contest (at least three people) will have their travel expenses covered by the organisers up to 200 Euros (tickets must be booked only by the organisers). The organisers of the Festival have the right to exhibit the selected works during the Festival and publish them in the Photo Circle journal. All income from their sale or subscription will go to the Festival’s education programme and the organisers’ website pressphoto.lt without paying a fee to the author. By presenting their works for the Contest, photographers at the same time express their acceptance of these terms of participation at the Festival. If you have any additional questions, please contact us by e-mail: photocircle@pressphoto.lt.

‘Person at Work’

The assignment is devised to bring you into close contact with people and to introduce you to the problem of articulating specific information through the medium of photography. You are also encouraged to introduce some key picture making strategies that can be used to construct the narrative, to introduce and consider the implications of the camera’s unique ability to describe and record the world, to introduce a practice of portraiture in its disparate forms, to employ various strategies applicable to the direction of the work,  to consider how narrative is constructed in documentary portraiture as well as to reveal the scope of the portrait concept.

With the presentation of your series you must communicate effectively in an oral, written and visual form and engage with forms of critical analysis, argument and debate, rather than describing information that the images already reveal.

The final series should consist of at least 7 but no more than 12 images.

Eugenijus Barzdžius was born in 1979 in Šiauliai, Lithuania. In 2002 he graduated with a BA in Academic Art and Graphic Design from Šiauliai University, Lithuania. In 2013 he studied at University of Wales, Newport, U.K., on the Documentary Photography course. In 2015 he started studying for a part-time MA Photography and Urban Cultures at Goldsmiths College, University of London. Eugenijus has been published and exhibited in various countries: USA, UK, Denmark, Canada, France, Germany. He received a PDN Photo Annual 2013 prize and the Marty Forscher Fellowship Award for outstanding achievements in humanistic photography. His projects have won or been honourably mentioned in several competitions.

Looking forward to seeing you in Vilnius,

Lithuanian Press Photographers Club

www.pressphoto.lt  http://www.photocircle.lt/

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Contact us by e-mail: photocircle@pressphoto.lt