Czech Press Photo 2019

Four thousand works by 270 photographers were submitted to the 25^th Czech Press Photo contest and evaluated by the international jury. Overall, there were eight photo and three video categories. Applications were open to any permanent residents of the Czech Republic and Slovakia who fulfilled the conditions of participation.

Lukáš Bíba’s symbolic photograph of the demonstrations at Letná became the photograph of the year 2019. “Like most of my colleagues, I tried to capture the protests at Letná from all possible angles,” Bíba says.

Jan Rasch is the winner of the ‘Grant of Prague’, and received it for the ‘Pražské panoptikum’ (‘Prague Freak Show’) Project.

“The centre itself is becoming a freak show of tourist attractions. In one place you can meet an ice bear, a panda and Mickey Mouse. The city is gradually losing its genius loci and is becoming a popcorn and Instagram city against the backdrop of Prague studio, which tourists will soon replace with the background of another city,” Jan Rasch says about the series.

The ‘Grant of Prague’ is an annual creative scholarship from Prague City Hall for documenting change in the city. A large collection of photographs that documents Prague and its development is gradually being created.

The themes include a number of both local and international events. Photographers take pictures across various categories, from news headlines to art and portraits to sports and nature. Many images are also shown on screens, further expanding the range of photos.

The exhibition is on until the 31^st of January 2020.

For further information, please visit: https://www.czechphoto.org/en/cp-en/.