MedFoto has revealed, this Saturday 27 July, the winning images of the fourth edition of the International Mediterranean Photography Contest.
About fifty people attended the announcement of the nine winners, with the eleven winning images, which took place on Saturday morning in the Multipurpose Hall of the L’Escala Nautic Club and which could also be followed online through the Zoom platform.
The meeting ended with the inauguration of the exhibition of the 36 images and the three finalist stories of the fourth edition of MedFoto in the Boardroom of Club Nàutic l’Escala. The exhibition, entitled “The sea and the people”, can be visited in this space until next September 8.
The winning images
The fourth edition of MedFoto has proclaimed the absolute winner of the photograph entitled “Black death of sea turtle hatchlings”, by the Turkish photographer Şebnem Coşkun. The image shows the consequences of an oil spill that took place off the coast of Syria in 2021 through the hand of a baby sea turtle victim of the terrible accident.
In addition to the absolute prize, awarded with 1,000 euros in cash, the winning images of the different proposed categories have been awarded, which will receive 300 euros in cash.
In this sense, the second award obtained by the Turkish author Şebnem Coşkun in the Conservation and Climate Change division with the photograph entitled “The world’s garbage in the Mediterranean” stands out. An image obtained in Hatay, Turkey. According to the author “climate change and environmental pollution around the world continue to endanger life and the Mediterranean is at risk of becoming a “sea of plastic”. Ghost nets are one of the dangers to which ‘face living beings in their underwater habitats’.
Santi Viladrich also took home two of the recognitions of the 2024 edition. In the Sports and leisure category with the image “Travessia”, a photograph taken with a drone during the Sa Cova de les Llagostes crossing, in Sant Antoni Portmany, in Ibiza .
Viladrich also took home the prize for the Sea Crafts theme with the title “Sal Harvest”, a photograph taken during the Ses Salines Salt Fair in Ibiza.
The composition “Dancing in the moonlight” by Bartolomé Santandreu has been chosen in the Landscape section. For the author “the twisted silhouettes of these pines by the coast seem to evoke the dance of these trees hypnotized by the light of the full moon”. An image made in Alcudia, Mallorca, and which, as explained by Santandreu, is already unique and cannot be made again because one of the pines has been cut down.
The work by Marc Casanovas entitled “Change of dress”, in the Underwater. Casanovas explained that he obtained it “right in front of the house, in Vilassar de Mar”, and that it was “during a night dive, when I found this specimen of lobster that curiously did not bury itself in my presence as it almost always happens . I suddenly witnessed the moment when the lobster molts its shell, something I had never seen before in my years as a photographer.”
Pavel Lychkousky was the winner of the Wildlife division with “Aphrodite”, made in Mahmutlar, Turkey, the author explains that “the white martin has been coming to Alanya beach for several years, except in the summer, when there are too many summers. Here, it hunts for small sea fish among the coastal rocks. If you approach the bird by crawling, it will allow you to get close. On the day of the photo, there were waves in the sea, and it goes to be able to catch the white bird in the soft white foam.”
“Corb Marí”, by Sara Darnés, has been awarded the category With mobile. The author claimed that she never usually shoots, but that day she got excited. “The cormorant dived to feed on small fish, ignoring the human presence watching it.” His man, Albert, threw himself into the water and Darnés managed to capture a moment where “two terrestrial animals dived into the tidal environment”. He did it with a mobile phone in a waterproof bag, in Formentera, Balearic Islands.
On this occasion, recognition among the photographic stories presented went to “Calma Chicha” by Arnau Cloquells, a compilation of images that follows a small group of Menorcan surfers in search of the waves that the Mediterranean offers in a capricious way . The author explains that “the heat and the desperate stillness made a sailor of French origin exclaim something like “This is a calm chiche !”.
“In French, chiche means avaricious, so the expression could be translated as “! This is a stingy calm!”. For us, the absence of wind means the absence of waves, and therefore of surfing. This report is a compilation of the last few years in which I have immersed myself in a very hidden world and fleeting, where a small group of Menorcan surfers look for these waves that the Mediterranean offers them in a capricious way. The climate and conditions of our calm sea make the search for waves like a journey, where you never know what you will find, or what a reward you’ll take home. Sometimes it’s won, and sometimes it’s lost, it’s a game of patience.”
The Costa Brava special prize, consisting of a weekend for four people in a bungalow at Camping la Ballena Alegre, went to Francesc Arnau for the photograph entitled “The network of dreams”. This is an aerial zenith photograph of a boat and its net for fishing for soles near L’Estartit beach.
Arnau Vergés and the play “Storm Cloud” have won the L’Escala special award, a hotel night for two with lunch or dinner and a visit to the Anchovy and Salt Museum or to l’Alfolí de la Sal – Museu de l’Escala. The author, who repeats the award for the second consecutive year, explains that they had a pending sailing trip with their father, which they had postponed on several occasions. finally, despite the looming storm cloud, they decided to go out. They did not escape receiving a good hail!
The long-awaited announcement of the winning images of the fourth call for the International Photography Contest of the Mediterranean has had a brief technical assessment of the photographs chosen by Oriol Alamany, a professional photographer specializing in nature conservation and representative of the jury of MedFoto.
Presence of authorities
This year, the development of the event where the winning images of MedFoto 2024 have been announced has had the interventions of the president of the Club Nàutic L’Escala Narcís Carreras, the president of the Alive Foundation Bernat Garrigós , the director of Ports of the Generalitat Annabel Moreno and the mayor of L’Escala Josep Bofill.
In this edition, the contest, validated by the Spanish Association of Nature Photographers AEFONA, has the support of Ports de la Generalitat , l’ Escala City Council , Empordà Turisme , APNAE , La Ballena Alegre campsite , Portalblau Festival and Improcat .
