Any participation in a photo contest, regardless of the results, contributes to the professional growth of the photographer. In the case of Ukrainian photographers, it is also an opportunity to tell the international audience about the Russian-Ukrainian war and its consequences, as well as to be heard. This year Romana Pylypiya was recognized as Photojournalist of the Year in the 2024 Photojournalist of the Year — National nomination National Press Photographers Association, Elena Grom became The main winner Festivals Xposure International Photography Awardsin the United Arab Emirates, where Alexander Rupeta also won the nomination Independent Freelance Photojournalist Award. How did Ukrainian documentary filmmakers manage to collect these international awards?
Documentarist Roman Pylypiy took first place in the prestigious nomination “Photojournalist of the year on a national scale”. He submitted a portfolio of 40 works he has done for Getty Images and AFP to the competition. The photographer worked on the pictures during 2023. They are all about war.
“About the wounded, about the rehabilitation of Ukrainian military and civilians. This story was called “Healing the Wounds.” I also submitted a story from the burials of military, civilians and children entitled “Grief and Loss.” This is what every Ukrainian lives now. Every day people die. I also added to the portfolio a story from Kherson about the consequences of the explosion of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power plant. The fourth story showed the life of Ukrainians under constant shelling, photos collected from different parts of Ukraine,” Roman says.
Roman believes that he managed to win first place for a well-formed portfolio, because it is the integrity of all photo stories that wins. He also emphasizes that great attention should be paid to the texts.
“It is worth telling about the heroes depicted in the photo. Where appropriate, you can add some statistics to show the scale of the problem. As a rule, judges start looking at the text in the final stages to delve deeper into the story,” says Roman.
Roman constantly participates in various photo competitions, at the National Press Photographers Association this is his second victory. In 2014, his photograph from the Revolution of Dignity took third place in a single nomination. He believes that every submission is an experience where you can learn from your own mistakes: “When someone else wins, I always look and analyze their work, their approach to portfolio formation and the textual component.”
The novel recalls that the war in Ukraine has been going on for 10 years, and the third year of a full-scale invasion has already begun - that is why we must continue to draw the attention of the world to the events in our country. Winning photo contests or simply participating for it is the very first chance to remind the international audience that “the war continues and it is very far from being over.”
“Of course, any recognition is also motivation to work harder. It's like cheering up. But I believe that photo contests are not some measure of talent or achievement, it is all subjective. Every year, very interesting projects worthy of awards do not win,” Roman notes.
Xposure International Photography Awards is the largest film photography festival in the world, where Ukrainian documentary filmmakers Elena Gromreceived the main prize for the project “Stolen Spring”. For the exposition, the organizers chose two photos of Elena, but one of them was awarded the main prize of the festival.
Olena Grom lives in Bucha and works in Irpen. The war landscape became her reality and routine. She created a series of photographs in historical dialogue with images by Polish photographer Michael Nash, who used decorative backdrops to disguise the ruins of Warsaw during World War II in 1945-1946.
“The heroes of my photographs are women who were victims of Russian aggression. The occupation continued, and in the spring, the people who survived this tragic period did not notice how the spring passed, the chestnuts and lilies bloomed, the birds flew in. They lost not only their home, loved ones, jobs, health, but also part of their lives,” explains Elena Grom. “Each photo is a personal tragedy, but it is also a life-affirming story of the survivor. This is the hope that Ukraine will rise from the ruins.”
The International Prize in Photography and Film is open to photographers of all levels — from amateurs to professionals. Xposure International Photography Awards 2023—2024 was organized by the Government Media Bureau of Sharjah and received over 25,000 applications from 190 countries, including China, India, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Italy, Brazil, Egypt. “It was not difficult to apply for the competition, the usual procedure: bio, upload photos, description of the project,” says Elena.
The jury members paid special attention to photographs that touch on current world topics such as: war, migration, ecology, feminism, racial conflicts.
“The theme of the war in Ukraine was quite well updated and shown by photographers from Ukraine and other countries. I am very glad that thanks to my photographs I was able to tell about the war and update this topic in the UAE. This is an important step in cultural diplomacy, - says Elena. - Almost all the top media of the UAE covered the festival and wrote that Sheikh Sultan bin Ahmed Al Qasimi presented the main prize to a Ukrainian photographer for a picture that tells about the consequences of the war in Ukraine “.
Local Media Emirates News Agency wrote about the victory of the Ukrainian woman: “The main prize was awarded to Elena Grom from Ukraine for an emotionally exciting picture. This deeply moving piece of work attracted the respect and attention of the jury, becoming a testament to the photographer's ability to reflect resilience and hope.”
Elena believes that cultural events such as festivals or exhibitions create social solidarity and cohesion. “During a full-scale war, we could all feel that culture is really a second front. Presenting Ukraine to the world is a huge challenge and responsibility,” she emphasizes.
Documentarist Oleksandr Rupeta for a series of works “Other Days of Life” won the nomination as Best Independent Freelance Photojournalist at the 2024 Xposure Photography Award.
“The photos in the series are collected from various reports in about a year. He chose pictures so that the series looked harmonious and integral together. The idea was to tell about the war from a slightly different angle, so that you could feel a certain point of view of the author, and not just a statement of fact,” explains Oleksandr.
He believes that winning competitions is subjective, the number of prize places is limited, and with a large number of projects you have to reject something no less qualitatively shot. However, he emphasizes, like his colleagues, this is an opportunity to talk about the war in Ukraine.
Alexander Rupeta applied for this competition for the second time: “For the first time a few years ago, then he passed several stages of selection, but did not reach the nominees.” To participate in Xposure Photography Award, must have a journalistic certificate. He recommends preparing such a description for the series, which at the same time will explain both the photo and the choice of category. “As far as I know from other competitions, significant attention is paid to the accompanying text in the final stages of selection,” Oleksandr emphasizes.
Recall that the UAPF continues to support the creative ideas of photographers and promote the active development of documentary filmmakers. Reception continues until March 25 bids to receive a grant from The Aftermath Project. Co-founder of The Aftermath Project, Sarah Terry, along with photojournalist Joseph Sivenky, who won in 2022, spent a joint Zoom meeting for Ukrainian photographers, where they told about the peculiarities of submitting to the competition and shared life hacks, how to convincingly present their story so that it wins. The non-profit organization offers photographers from around the world to receive a $25,000 grant to implement a documentary project on the consequences of the war conflict.
The material was worked on:
Researcher of the topic, author of the text: Vira Labych
Literary Editor: Julia Futei
Bildeditor: Vyacheslav Ratynskyi
Site Manager: Vladislav Kuhar
Any participation in a photo contest, regardless of the results, contributes to the professional growth of the photographer. In the case of Ukrainian photographers, it is also an opportunity to tell the international audience about the Russian-Ukrainian war and its consequences, as well as to be heard. This year Romana Pylypiya was recognized as Photojournalist of the Year in the 2024 Photojournalist of the Year — National nomination National Press Photographers Association, Elena Grom became The main winner Festivals Xposure International Photography Awardsin the United Arab Emirates, where Alexander Rupeta also won the nomination Independent Freelance Photojournalist Award. How did Ukrainian documentary filmmakers manage to collect these international awards?
Documentarist Roman Pylypiy took first place in the prestigious nomination “Photojournalist of the year on a national scale”. He submitted a portfolio of 40 works he has done for Getty Images and AFP to the competition. The photographer worked on the pictures during 2023. They are all about war.
“About the wounded, about the rehabilitation of Ukrainian military and civilians. This story was called “Healing the Wounds.” I also submitted a story from the burials of military, civilians and children entitled “Grief and Loss.” This is what every Ukrainian lives now. Every day people die. I also added to the portfolio a story from Kherson about the consequences of the explosion of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power plant. The fourth story showed the life of Ukrainians under constant shelling, photos collected from different parts of Ukraine,” Roman says.
Roman believes that he managed to win first place for a well-formed portfolio, because it is the integrity of all photo stories that wins. He also emphasizes that great attention should be paid to the texts.
“It is worth telling about the heroes depicted in the photo. Where appropriate, you can add some statistics to show the scale of the problem. As a rule, judges start looking at the text in the final stages to delve deeper into the story,” says Roman.
Roman constantly participates in various photo competitions, at the National Press Photographers Association this is his second victory. In 2014, his photograph from the Revolution of Dignity took third place in a single nomination. He believes that every submission is an experience where you can learn from your own mistakes: “When someone else wins, I always look and analyze their work, their approach to portfolio formation and the textual component.”
The novel recalls that the war in Ukraine has been going on for 10 years, and the third year of a full-scale invasion has already begun - that is why we must continue to draw the attention of the world to the events in our country. Winning photo contests or simply participating for it is the very first chance to remind the international audience that “the war continues and it is very far from being over.”
“Of course, any recognition is also motivation to work harder. It's like cheering up. But I believe that photo contests are not some measure of talent or achievement, it is all subjective. Every year, very interesting projects worthy of awards do not win,” Roman notes.
Xposure International Photography Awards is the largest film photography festival in the world, where Ukrainian documentary filmmakers Elena Gromreceived the main prize for the project “Stolen Spring”. For the exposition, the organizers chose two photos of Elena, but one of them was awarded the main prize of the festival.
Olena Grom lives in Bucha and works in Irpen. The war landscape became her reality and routine. She created a series of photographs in historical dialogue with images by Polish photographer Michael Nash, who used decorative backdrops to disguise the ruins of Warsaw during World War II in 1945-1946.
“The heroes of my photographs are women who were victims of Russian aggression. The occupation continued, and in the spring, the people who survived this tragic period did not notice how the spring passed, the chestnuts and lilies bloomed, the birds flew in. They lost not only their home, loved ones, jobs, health, but also part of their lives,” explains Elena Grom. “Each photo is a personal tragedy, but it is also a life-affirming story of the survivor. This is the hope that Ukraine will rise from the ruins.”
The International Prize in Photography and Film is open to photographers of all levels — from amateurs to professionals. Xposure International Photography Awards 2023—2024 was organized by the Government Media Bureau of Sharjah and received over 25,000 applications from 190 countries, including China, India, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Italy, Brazil, Egypt. “It was not difficult to apply for the competition, the usual procedure: bio, upload photos, description of the project,” says Elena.
The jury members paid special attention to photographs that touch on current world topics such as: war, migration, ecology, feminism, racial conflicts.
“The theme of the war in Ukraine was quite well updated and shown by photographers from Ukraine and other countries. I am very glad that thanks to my photographs I was able to tell about the war and update this topic in the UAE. This is an important step in cultural diplomacy, - says Elena. - Almost all the top media of the UAE covered the festival and wrote that Sheikh Sultan bin Ahmed Al Qasimi presented the main prize to a Ukrainian photographer for a picture that tells about the consequences of the war in Ukraine “.
Local Media Emirates News Agency wrote about the victory of the Ukrainian woman: “The main prize was awarded to Elena Grom from Ukraine for an emotionally exciting picture. This deeply moving piece of work attracted the respect and attention of the jury, becoming a testament to the photographer's ability to reflect resilience and hope.”
Elena believes that cultural events such as festivals or exhibitions create social solidarity and cohesion. “During a full-scale war, we could all feel that culture is really a second front. Presenting Ukraine to the world is a huge challenge and responsibility,” she emphasizes.
Documentarist Oleksandr Rupeta for a series of works “Other Days of Life” won the nomination as Best Independent Freelance Photojournalist at the 2024 Xposure Photography Award.
“The photos in the series are collected from various reports in about a year. He chose pictures so that the series looked harmonious and integral together. The idea was to tell about the war from a slightly different angle, so that you could feel a certain point of view of the author, and not just a statement of fact,” explains Oleksandr.
He believes that winning competitions is subjective, the number of prize places is limited, and with a large number of projects you have to reject something no less qualitatively shot. However, he emphasizes, like his colleagues, this is an opportunity to talk about the war in Ukraine.
Alexander Rupeta applied for this competition for the second time: “For the first time a few years ago, then he passed several stages of selection, but did not reach the nominees.” To participate in Xposure Photography Award, must have a journalistic certificate. He recommends preparing such a description for the series, which at the same time will explain both the photo and the choice of category. “As far as I know from other competitions, significant attention is paid to the accompanying text in the final stages of selection,” Oleksandr emphasizes.
Recall that the UAPF continues to support the creative ideas of photographers and promote the active development of documentary filmmakers. Reception continues until March 25 bids to receive a grant from The Aftermath Project. Co-founder of The Aftermath Project, Sarah Terry, along with photojournalist Joseph Sivenky, who won in 2022, spent a joint Zoom meeting for Ukrainian photographers, where they told about the peculiarities of submitting to the competition and shared life hacks, how to convincingly present their story so that it wins. The non-profit organization offers photographers from around the world to receive a $25,000 grant to implement a documentary project on the consequences of the war conflict.
The material was worked on:
Researcher of the topic, author of the text: Vira Labych
Literary Editor: Julia Futei
Bildeditor: Vyacheslav Ratynskyi
Site Manager: Vladislav Kuhar
UAPP is an independent association of professional Ukrainian photographers, designed to protect their interests, support, develop and promote Ukrainian photography as an important element of national culture.
UAPP's activities span educational, social, research and cultural initiatives, as well as book publishing.
UAPP represents Ukrainian professional photography in the international photographic community and is an official member of the Federation of European Photographers (FEP) — an international organization representing more than 50,000 professional photographers in Europe and other countries around the world.
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