Under the auspices of the Mayor of Prague, Bohuslav Svoboda, the 30th anniversary year of the popular photo competition is taking place this year. As it is known, the appointed exhibition at the Gambit Gallery in the centre of the metropolis during May each year brings together images of the capital that were taken in the past year. It presents the winning and selected photographs of the annual competition. These are not only a reflection of the beauty of the changing metropolis, its transformations and current problems, but also of the changing creative activities and direction of individual photographers. The 30th edition of the competition received 1164 photographs from 101 authors. They are mostly composed in cycles, which show a serious interest in individual themes.
Motto:
„My desire leads me to Prague, which seems to me to be miraculous.“
An excerpt from the poet's verses introduces this year's exhibition catalogue, which has traditionally become a collector's item for photography lovers. The collection of selected images from the Prague Photographic Competition presents the Czech metropolis as you do not know it and cannot recognize it by ordinary observation. The images, composed of the views of individual participants - professional and amateur photographers - celebrate the beauty of Prague's landmarks, suggest the city's problems and offer an introduction to its inhabitants.
Bottom line
In 2026, the submitted photographs were evaluated by a jury headed by Daniela Mrázková, a publicist, curator, founder of the Czech Press Photo competition and author of a number of books on photography and photographers: Dana Bleyová - photographer, designer of the competition since the first year, Karol Klváček - photographer, secretary of the Association of Slovak Photographers, chairman of the organizing committee of the international Fotosalon Strom, Jaroslav Kučera - photographer, Dana Kyndrová - photographer and curator, Milan Sedláček - member of the committee of the Association of Czech Photographers, organizer of the National Competition and Exhibition of Photography, Petr Šálek, photographer, publisher of the online magazine Artmagazin.eu, Andrej Reiser, photographer, founder of Bilderberg Agency, Dana Vitásková - photographer, Fotomida publishing house.
Four permanent categories
Photographs are submitted to the jury and exhibited in the original author's form (enlargements of at least 30x40cm). The „paper“ exhibition is complemented by a projection of other selected photographs. The competition is traditionally held in four permanent categories - Beauty of Prague and its Changes, People in Prague, Problems of Prague and Chronicle of the Capital City. The changing category in the 30th year is Humour in the Streets of Prague, a memory of František Dostál.
The jury selected the 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes in the categories Beauty of Prague and its Changes, People in Prague and Chronicle of the Capital City, and the first prize in the other categories. In total, 12 honorable mentions were awarded. The main prize across the categories is the Prague Mayor's Award, which this year went to Josef Parma for Red Arrows and Swallows. Furthermore, the Foma Bohemia Award for the best black and white photograph was awarded to Jan Kočičák's series Kočí Funeral of Cardinal Dominik Duka. The prize of the Association of Czech Photographers was awarded to Kateřina Göttlichová for her series Dokolečka dokola kolem Kotva, and the prize of the Association of Slovak Photographers to Roman Löwinger for his photograph Seriously unseriously. The mayor of the Prague 1 district, Terezie Radoměřská, awarded a photograph selected by visitors to the exhibition as she does every year - it is a picture of Kryštof Hošek's sculpture on the gallery ship Avoid from the poster of last year's exhibition.
The exhibition also includes photographs taken by the participants of the Střešovice Today workshop organized in 2020 under the direction of Vladimír Czumal.
The selection criterion ...
... of all awards and exhibited images is the originality of the shots and individual creative approach to the photographic representation of the theme. This year's exhibition, featuring nearly 300 winning and jury-selected images in digital and paper form from 78 photographers, is another contribution to the city's visual chronicle. It is a challenge to other photographers for whom the capital city will become a basic theme in various projects. It becomes an opportunity for viewers to reflect on the history and present of the urban environment, the meaning of life in the city, the activity of its inhabitants and the results of their efforts to make small and large changes. The photographs are not a haphazard collection of shots, but analyse the situation with a knowledge of the context. They reveal a longer interest in the chosen topics, consistency of photography and the ability to see what is essential. Humour as a necessary part of a healthy view of the world is not missing. Gradually, an extensive collection of photographs documenting the changes in the historical appearance, development and evolution of the capital city is being created. The chronicle of the city is open, everyone can participate.
When hand to hand, the work succeeds
The competition and the exhibition Prague Photographic is organized by the Prague Photographic Society, z.s. with the financial contribution of the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, the City of Prague and the Municipal District of Prague 1 with the support of the Union of Czech Photographers, z.s. and the National Institute of Culture. Thanks for the prizes for the competition go to the companies Centrum FotoŠkoda, Foma Bohemia, Liberecká škola foto-grafická, Nikon, Sanco, Ultralab&syn and Zväzu slovenských fotografov. The monitor was lent by Eizo.
Ivan Cerny
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