© Felix Schoeller Photo Award
The 2015 Felix Schoeller Photo Award kicked off on 1 January with new Competition Rules. As Dr Friederike Texter – Senior Vice President of Corporate Communication with the Felix Schoeller Group – explained, the aim was for the award and its five categories to target professional photographers even more closely. The fact that this aim was achieved is evidenced by the numerous entries from winners of renowned international competitions. The list of competition entrants reads like a Who’s Who of international photography prizes: Hasselblad Masters, Pulitzer Prize, World Press Photo of the Year Award, Prix de la Photographie, Cannes Lions, various Art Directors Club Awards, Nikon Photo Contest, Canon ProfiFoto Award for Young Photographers, Sony World Photography Award, Henri Nannen Prize, BFF Prize for Emerging Photographers, Reinhart Wolf Prize, and the Leica Oskar Barnack Prize – to mention but a few.
Dr Friederike Texter sees the direction the second Felix Schoeller Photo Awards has taken as a consequence of the company’s actions: “We have always stressed that we wanted the Felix Schoeller Photo Award to honour photography of the highest quality. That is why we took the deliberate decision to tighten up the Competition Rules to target professional photographers more closely. We also succeeded in recruiting the support of Germany’s two most prestigious photographers' associations DGPh and BFF, both of which have international connections. This endorsement of our award enabled us to attract the attention of professional photographers worldwide.
Both actions hit home and attracted new, high-profile entrants – a fact which is clearly illustrated by the numerous entries submitted by award winners. In this context, it is also important to mention that the work of these artists has been on exhibit in over 100 museums – from Cape Town to Helsinki and Los Angeles to Tokyo – and some of it has even been included in permanent collections. At the forthcoming exhibition of prizewinning and nominated work in the Cultural History Museum, Osnabrück will become a showcase for professional photography of the very highest calibre and will no doubt attract visitors from all over Germany – both professionals and photography enthusiasts.“
1,200 entries from 65 countries
One of the outstanding results of this year’s Felix Schoeller Photo Award is the fact that 1,200 entries have been received from 65 countries. In 2013 there were 1,300 entries from 26 countries. Entries have been submitted from every continent in the world except Antarctica. The countries with the highest number of entrants are Germany, Austria, France, USA, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, India, Italy, the Netherlands and Poland. The high level of participation from Asian countries – including India, China, Japan, Philippines, Thailand, Bangladesh, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, and Viet Nam – must also be rated as a particular success.
With 200 entrants this year, the percentage of emerging professional photographers has more than doubled. They are competing for the Felix Schoeller Photo Award’s Emerging Photographer prize, which has been provided by Phase One, the Danish manufacturer of high-end, open-platform, medium-format cameras.
Dr Texter believes the success expressed in these figures is the result of two actions taken: “It is no coincidence that the number of countries represented in the entries rose by 250%. Along with our collaboration with the photographers’ associations, the fact that we stepped up our international press campaign meant that we reached professional photographers through print and online media. We did some research in Asia that enabled us to establish connections to photographers’ communities, who gave prominent publicity to our award.Our analysis of the award website has shown that people from over 121 countries in the world accessed the site. That is phenomenal!
In the emerging photographer category we developed a well-targeted mailing list for international universities, enabling us to make contact with numerous lecturers who encouraged their students to take part in the award. Now we are reaping the benefits of the work we put in."
“We are particularly pleased about the high percentage of “repeat customers” from the last competition," Dr Texter adds. "All the 2013 award winners – with the exception of the winner of the Emerging Photographer prize – submitted entries again this year, as did over 70% of those who were nominated for a prize. That demonstrates that we were able to secure the trust of professional photographers and get a lot of things right first time round. The jury is already looking forward to the thrill of viewing and selecting the entries and the Felix Schoeller Group is looking forward to a superb exhibition!"`
Awards ceremony and exhibition opening for the 2015 Felix Schoeller Photo Award in Osnabrück’s Cultural History Museum
The jury will have selected the nominated and prize-winning work in the different categories by the end of August. The awards ceremony and exhibition opening will take place on 27 September 2015 at Osnabrück’s Cultural History Museum. The exhibition will run from 27.09.2015 to 17.01.2016.
More infos: http://felix-schoeller-photoaward.com/de/#/home"
