BETA Hands Out Awards for Its Photo of the Year Contest

BETAPHOTO/MILAN OBRADOVIC

The winners of this year’s BETA’s Photo of the Year competition received their awards in the evening of Sept. 29 at Belgrade’s Dorcol Platz, where an exhibition of 40 best works was opened.

According to the jury, the top prize went to Belgrade daily Blic photojournalist Mitar Mitrovic for the photo titled “An Impact.”The second prize went in the hands of Slovenian weekly Mladina photojournalist Luka Daksklober for the photograph titled “Spite.”The third prize was handed to freelance photojournalist Vladimir Zivojinovic for the photograph called “Women in the field after finishing regular work.”

BETAPHOTO/Mitar Mitrovic

A special audience award was won by freelance photojournalist Andrej Nihil for his photograph “Buffalos from Perlez,” which collected 1,997 votes on social networks. Last year, BETA also established a thematic award for best photograph in the field of life and inclusion of vulnerable groups, named after Belgrade actor Damjan Diklic who has recently passed away. This year’s winner is a photojournalist of Montenegro’s state public broadcaster RTCG, Goran Boricic, for his photograph “And yet it moves.”

BETAPHOTO/MILAN OBRADOVIC

BETA Editor-in-Chief Vojkan Kostic said that 40 photographs selected by the jury were depicting important events in the region over the past 12 months.“If you take a look at the catalogue and photographs, you can see the events chronologically arranged and conceptualized in a documentary manner which happened in the past 12 months not only in our city and our country, but in the entire region,” Kostic said.

German Ambassador to Serbia Anke Konrad said that BETA’s Photo of the Year was the most prestigious photo context in the region.The ambassador also said she was impressed that photojournalists from seven countries in the region had applied for the competition.“The prize-winning photographs are the mirror of our everyday life,” Ambassador Konrad noted.

The 19th edition of BETA’s photo contest received 260 photographs by 67 authors from seven countries. The photos have so far been viewed by around 400,000 users of social networks, while some 20,000 have voted.

Anke Konrad (BETAPHOTO/MILAN OBRADOVIC)

The jury, comprising three photographers Emil Vas, Petar Kujundzic and Marko Risovic, selected 44 photos which will be presented at a traditional exhibition and included in the catalogue.

This year’s edition of BETA’s photo contest was organized with the support of the German Embassy in Belgrade.