Montanha Photography Award Winners Announced
MiratecArts is currently presenting the fourth edition of the Montanha Pico Festival, located on the island of Pico, Azores - Portugal.
More than 250 images were submitted to the Montanha Photography Contest, from all corners of the planet. All amazing images in their own way, all deserve accolades, but since that’s not possible, MiratecArts has chosen 60 images for exhibition that are now on display at the MiratecArts Foto_Galeria, located at the fire department in the town of Madalena, Pico, Azores. This unique art gallery is open 24 hours, and locals as well as tourists have the opportunity to visit at their leisure, day or night.
Due to the variety of styles and compositions, ranging from clear landscapes to artistic impressions on the contest’s mountain theme, Terry Costa, Artistic Director of MiratecArts, decided that the finalists would have to somehow reflect the international theme of "Mountains under Pressure: Climate, hunger, migration" in their photos, be it literally or symbolic.
"The images chosen all reflect the theme in some way. We carefully chose to award the images from one spectrum to another, from artistic shots to photos representing basic landscapes of reality," says Terry Costa, who has decided to reward nine of the participants with a one-week stay on Pico island.
"I will have the pleasure to invest a few days to host each artist who is able to come to us in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean," added Costa. "From being the guide to the driver, we would like to provide an experience for the artists to explore Pico island and create future award-winning images." MiratecArts also looks forward to showcasing a solo exhibition from each of the award-winning artists at MiratecArts Foto_Galeria.
And, the Montanha Photography Contest 2018 Award Winners are...
"It is quite rare that a city dweller would get to experience an atmosphere so free of smog and dust, that the sky would be so clear and bright, and clouds would have such a perfect contrast with the backdrop. Mountains are our lifeline. They are not just getaways. They are getaways from the toxic contribution of industrial civilization." This is how artist Adusyanti Chatterjee presented House on the Clouds, taken in Srinagar, India.
Ahmed Mosaad Elsakhawy hails from Egypt and submitted a photo taken in Kazbegi, Georgia titled Mountain Texture. Expressing texture in nature, from greenery to sandy rocks and ice, the image shows a beautiful landscape that transforms daily in front of our eyes.
Landscape and documentary photographer Babak Mehrafshar captured Zagros Mountains on his way on the road of Isfahan-Khouzestan State in Iran. The unique emotional image is titled Anger of Mountain.
Dark Mounts by Milad Karamooz is a collection of images captured in Mount Damavand, a stratovolcano in Iran. The haunting mountain scenery presented in black and white is an instant attraction, making us curious about the artist’s body of work, which will be showcased in the future at MiratecArts.
The Working Old Man by Partha Chakraborty represents the man of the mountains, who even at 83 years of age, works as if he’s still in his youth. We look forward to showcasing a future collection from the artist’s home country of India. with amazing mountain landscapes.
Mountain Child comes to us courtesy of a young photographer from Iran, Salar Arkan. At only 20 years of age, his collection of images tells many stories of people in mountain culture, as well as Iranian faces of all expressions under the sun.
Srdjan Vujmilovic photographed an amazing sunset in Hallstatt, Austria. "I got sick, I got frostbite, but also I got this amazing memory of my trip," says the Republika Srpska artist, who titled his work Day Dreaming.
Tia Johnson is a Southern born American, internationally bred, travel inspired and coffee sustained woman that travels the world with Just Her Carry On. Afternoon in Lugano, captured on a trip in Switzerland, shows a serene life scene that perhaps makes us forget that in the name of nature appreciation, humans destroy part of it.
Reflecting the Future, photographed in Laerdal, Norway by Uku Sööt is an impressionistic approach and a symbol of how bleak the world might look like in future, when the environment and the natural order of things have been turned upside down. "Mountains hold a special place in my heart. Coming from a land without any real mountains, Estonia, I’ve always been amazed by them," says the photographer.
Honorable Mention: Abdul Razaq Vance (Pakistan) Horror in the Mountains; Ádám Fáth (Hungary) Balance of Power, Georgia, Kazbegi National Park; Fabricio Obljubek (Spain) Space: Vang Vieng in Laos from a hot air balloon; Matheus Hobold Sovernigo (Brasil) Plain of Six Glaciers, Banff; Robin Yong (Australia) A Portrait for Granny, Bhutan; Pyae Phyo Thet Paing (Myanmar) The ray over mountains - Mindat, Chin State.
The 60 images, including award winners, can be viewed at MiratecArts Foto_Galeria in Pico island, Azores, Portugal, from now until April 2018. www.mirateca.com