Press Release: Alghero Street Photography Awards

The gorgeous Sardinian town of Alghero will be the site of one of the new international street photography festivals of 2018!

The Alghero Street Photography Awards (ASPA) is a street photography festival organised and promoted by the cultural association “Officine di idee”, an organisation aspiring to become a reference point for the street and authorial photography. The founder of the festival is none other than Marcello Perino, a friend of us here at Streethunters.net! You may remember Marcello from Street Hunt # 15 at the 1st annual Street Hunters Meeting in London, UK and Street Hunt # 17 in Rome Italy, where Marcello was the most gracious of hosts and a fantastic guide!

This Italian street photography festival and its contests aim to promote and provide exposure to all interested authors, not only to the bizarre and sensational shot, but also to the “street photography” that can document. In a time of overabundance in the “street” genre, where shots are mostly ‘drowned’ in the unstoppable immediacy of social media, the goal is to appreciate those who can show an interest in posterity through their work.

The ASPA says the central theme of the festival will be the “street photography”, universal place, background to endless small and great stories of the day-to-day, which only an attentive eye can turn into a shot able to realize the ongoing moment. They will be accepting participations from all around the globe. This is the reason why ASPAwards 2018 is characterised as an international street photography festival.

The festival will be preceded by a photographic contest subdivided into four main categories: “Travel Photography“, “Documentary Photography“, “Street Photography” and “Street Portrait“. To these four, two extra categories have been added: “Project and Personal Research” – free interpretation of the theme – and “Special Theme”, which must be developed entirely on Sardinian territory. According to the ASPA, being able to build a photographic project will be considered very important. They are looking for photographic stories that can show substance, personality and courage, developed with an incisive sequence. The aim is to award those authors who will manage to emerge for their authoriality and for the depth of the work they present. Besides the contest, the festival will offer workshops with prominent authors, round table discussions, conferences, portfolio readings, photowalks in the old town, photographic product-testing, and other activities of guaranteed interest.

The lineup of judges is stacked with experienced and renowned photographers, writers, journalists, historians, curators and critics. The list includes David Gibson, Massimo Mastrorillo, Gianluca Colla, Augusto Pieroni, Salvatore Matarazzo, Sonia Borsato, Giorgio Donini, Paolo Sirena and Pasquale Chessa. The photography contest prizes will be awarded to the winners of the single categories during the live stream at the gala night, held at the civic theatre of Alghero, on Saturday 26th May 2018. You can see the contest rules at https://aspawards.com/contest-rules. Most importantly is that there’s still time to enter! The deadline as of now is February 15th!

The ASPA states there will be many available prizes, and each winner will receive the “Riviera del Corallo” award, a prize that certifies the success of the awarded authors while leaving them with a memory of the festival and the Italian city of Alghero. The award ceremony will take place in the civic theatre of Alghero, during the gala night that will host accomplished photographers, experts, and journalists. The winning works will be showcased in a travelling exhibit that will involve the marvellous old town of Alghero, with its towers, its distinctive alleys and private spaces, for a great exhibit that will narrate a unique moment in the culture of street and authorial photography. Prize details can be found at https://aspawards.com/contest-prizes .

The calendar dates and schedule have yet to be released, so stay tuned to the ASPA’s website for details and get your submissions in!