Four Romanian photographers shortlisted at the most important photo contest in the world

Four Romanian photographers were shortlisted on Wednesday at the most important photo competition in the world, Sony World Photography Awards (SWPA) 2016, racing for the blue ribbon of several categories and for the big prize of USD 30,000. The winners will be announced at the gala due in London on April 21^st.

Remus Tiplea has been shortlisted in the ”Professional Daily Life” category, Oana Stoian for the ”Professional Staged” category, Amnon Gutman for ”Professional Current Affairs” and Laurian Ghinitoiu for the ”Open Architecture” section.

The number of registrations from Romania increased by 60% compared to the last year’s edition, while photographers have been selected from a record number of 230,103 coming from 186 countries, 33 percent more than in 2015.

Therefore, the total number of registrations  has exceeded 1 million photos compared to the first Sony World Photography Awards in 2007.

“From zip-lining acrobats, moonlit dung beetles, scrummaging rugby players and floating ballerinas, to heartening stories of love and loss, the standard of quality from both professionals and photography enthusiasts alike, has taken the competition to new heights,” reads the shortlist announcement on the contest’s official site.

The shortlisted pieces will be on display in London, within the Sony World Photography Awards 2016 exhibition in April and May and they will also be published in the 2016 edition of the Sony World Photography Awards catalogue. More precisely, Winning and shortlisted images will then be showcased at the prestigious Somerset House, London from 22nd April – 8th May.  All participants will receive Sony photo equipment.

Remus Tiplea, born in 1972 is from Negrești Oaș, northern Romania. He began his adventure in the photography world in 2009 when he started taking photos of his kid with his mobile phone. His photo collection shortlisted now, “Cows Guard” presents the day-to day life of a Romanian Gypsy couple, parents of 8, employeed by the villagers in Negrești Oaș to watch the community’s cows.“Since in 2015 in many localities in Romania, a EU member country, there is a special category of people, a category of people who are employed by some communities to care for their cows. This is called “ciurdarii” villages. Gusti and Fraguta are gypsies, parents of 8 children who are employed by community Tur neighbourhood of Negrești Oaș located in northern Romania, near the border with Ukraine, in order to care for cows, especially buffalo. I watched five seasons already Vasile this community, gypsies are honest, hardworking, herd animals take care in April and until December, living in a tent on the outskirts of the community during this period. They take the cows in the morning and take them back in the evening the villagers, sick and full of milk. Besides the 8 children who help care for the animals, Gusti and Fraguta, always have guests who come and spend the summer with her in the tent at the edge of the community, “reads the description of his photos.

Oana Stoian, born in 1993 comes from Lugoj and graduated the Art and Design University in Timișoara. Her “How to think inside the box” series showcases some black &white comic portraits of an anonymous young woman.“How to think inside the box Instructions: Step 1: You find a box. Step 2: You check if the box is empty. Step 3: You check so that no one can see you. Step 4: You give the box a try. Step 5: You seem to like the box. Step 6: You take the box in different places. Step 7: You find a friend. Step 8: You try to understand your new friend. Step 9: You fail and get sad. Step 10: You have no clue what to do with your life. Use the box with extreme caution!”, reads the description at worldphoto.org.

Amnon Gutman, based in Israel, focuses his works around the concept of loss, emphasising the importance of preserving life against violence and illness. ”Ukraine Crisis – The East” series shortlisted for the Sony world contest captures the conflicts in Ukraine.“Since the September 5th, 2014 ceasefire deal in Minsk Both Pro Russia rebels and the UA army used the relative lull to build up their forces and for months the rebels tried to seize Donetsk airport, a strategic and symbolic asset, from government forces (…)The conflict in the east has claimed the lives of more then 9000 people so far. (UN figures- December 2015), and left approximately 275,000 people displaced inside Ukraine (UNHCR- September 2015),” reads the presentation.

Laurian Ghinitoiu, born in 1985 is based in Berlin, Germany. Holding a master degree in Architecture from Dessau International Architecture, Ghinitoiu is also mad about photography. “UK leaks” photography shortlisted for the Open Architecture category is restoring the UK Pavilion at EXPO 2015 in a spectacular manner.“A design mistake of the UK pavilion? The shot was taken during the opening of the EXPO 2015 (1st of May). A layer of water covering the floor making it very slippery and dangerous. While the visitors were waiting to get permission to enter the pavilion, one of the hosts went to the centre to check if is still raining.”

More information about SWPA is available at www.worldphoto.org.