The World Photography Organisation and Zeiss today announced the winner of the 2017 Zeiss Photography Award “Seeing Beyond”. Now in its second year, the theme of ZEISS Photography Award was ‘Meaningful Places’ which challenged professional photographers to look past the ordinary and everyday and submit a body of work that captured extraordinary aspects of the world we live in. The overall winner is Belgian photographer Kevin Faingnaert, recognised for “Føroyar”, a stunning photography series about life on remote and sparsely populated villages on the Faroe Islands. Faingnaert receives €12,000 worth of Zeiss lenses and €3,000 in travel expenses to complete a photography project.

Zeiss Press Release

Kevin Faingnaert, Belgium, wins 2017 ZEISS Photography Award

Winner & shortlisted photographers selected from over 31,000 images from 132 countries
Prize is €12,000 worth of ZEISS lenses and €3,000 to complete a photography project

March 14, 2017: The World Photography Organisation and ZEISS today announce Belgian photographer Kevin Faingnaert as the winner of the 2017 ZEISS Photography Award “Seeing Beyond”. Faingnaert is recognized for “Føroyar”, a stunning photography series about life on remote and sparsely populated villages on the Faroe Islands.
 
Now in its second year, the theme of ZEISS Photography Award was ‘Meaningful Places’ which challenged professional photographers to look past the ordinary and everyday and submit a body of work that captured extraordinary aspects of the world we live in. The award is a collaboration between the World Photography Organisation and ZEISS and is designed push the creative talents of photographers worldwide.

The winning work was selected from more than 31,000 images, submitted by 4,677 photographers from 132 countries to the 2017 award.  

As the 2017 ZEISS Photography Award winner, Kevin Faingnaert receives €12,000 worth of ZEISS lenses and €3,000 in travel expenses to complete a photography project.

Kevin Faingnaert lives and works in Gent, Belgium, and is a social documentary photographer with a degree in Sociology.  His work mainly focuses on small groups and communities that are removed from mainstream culture and his images have been published internationally.
 
Talking about his winning series "Føroyar", Faingnaert comments: “In February 2016 I immersed myself within the Faroese community, I couch-surfed and hitch-hiked my way across the islands, finding doors opening to me everywhere I went. There, across swathes of snow-veiled landscapes and bordered by dramatic coastline, villages are slowly dropping into decline as more and more of their inhabitants are emigrating from the islands in pursuit of greater opportunities.  In these clear and pristine landscapes, where villages with populations as low as ten huddle together on the edge of cliffs, I tried to reveal a community hanging on firmly to their roots and traditions, while underlining that one day these villages must inevitably disappear.”

Judge Claire Richardson, Picture Editor, Lonely Planet Traveller, notes: “There is a wonderful completeness to Kevin’s series; epic landscapes mix with tenderly composed portraits, tied together by a soft muted palette, which immediately draws you in.  Everyday events in these remote communities are captured by the lens, from a parishioner sitting quietly in a local church to a village football game.  But look closely at this unforgiving and wild environment and you realise that these are ordinary people living in extraordinary circumstances, hanging on at the edge of the world.”

Shortlisted photographers and exhibition

The judges also recognised the work of nine further photographers:

Anna Filipova, Bulgaria/ UK
Mario Adario, Italy
Christopher Roche, UK
Sonja Hamad, Germany
Ben Bond Obiri Asamoah, Ghana
Frederik Buyckx, Belgium
Nicholas White, UK
Fabian Muir, Australia
Nicky Newman, South Africa

The work of both the winning and shortlisted photographers will be shown in London as part of the Sony World Photography Awards & Martin Parr – 2017 Exhibition at Somerset House from April 20 – May 7.

Your Comments