By Alejandro Martínez
After receiving more than 30,000 images from 1,300 photographers in the continent, the Picture of the Year Latin America 2013 photography contest entered its final leg this week as judges began naming winners in some of the categories.
With only three years running, POY Latam -- which is taking place in Fortaleza, Brazil and being streamed live every day till Friday through the photo organization Nuestra Mirada's website -- has already earned a privileged place among photojournalism competitions in the continent.
Besides providing a space for reflection, discussion and community, POY Latam organizers Loup Langton and Pablo Corral Vega told the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas in a recent interview that the goal of the contest is to help bring international exposure and recognition to the work of photojournalists in the region.
“Instead of looking at photographers in Europe and the U.S., we’re starting to pay attention to photographers in Latin America, and that’s a huge,” Corral Vega said. “I think it's a more contemporary way of looking at our societies.”
“We always thought it's best if people from here tell the stories, their own stories,” Langton added.
Describing the differences between the work of Latin American photographers and their colleagues from other parts of the world, Langton said the artistic charge is more pronounced among the first. Latin American photographers are leading the way in a worldwide trend to push the line between fine art and photojournalism, he added.
As an example, Correa Vega highlighted the work of Mexican photographer Fernando Brito, who tries to take a different approach to photographs of killings in Mexico. Instead of getting closer to the victims, Brito steps back and takes their pictures as if they were part of the landscape.
“The treatment is closer to fine art, but the pictures are so haunting and beautiful and striking, that it's a new way to tell the stories of violence in the country,” Corral Vega said. “He uses the tools of fine arts to tell a story that is journalistic.”
And just like the photographers' understanding and interpretation of the region continues to evolve, Langton said POY Latam does too.
“Whether it's the categories or the discussions with the jury, the contest has evolved in the direction of reflecting the Latin American perspective on photography,” he said.
Langton highlighted the category Between Reality and Imagination. "What is it? Really, the jury is trying to figure that out too, but it's definitely a concept that fits in the mentality of the Latin American photographer,” he said.
Other categories in the contest were Everyday Life, News, Portrait, The Environment, Sports, Drugs, Books and Picture of the Year.
POY Latam, which has grown into the largest documentary photography contest in Latin America, accepted works from all Ibero-American countries, including Spain and Portugal. The competition, organized by the Nuestra Mirada network of photojournalists, is the Ibero-Ameircan version of Picture of the Year International, the oldest and one of the most prestigious photo contests in the world.
Click here to see a gallery of the winning entries so far.
Note from the editor: This story was originally published by the Knight Center’s blog Journalism in the Americas, the predecessor of LatAm Journalism Review.
