PRIZE 2018

HUMAN RIGHTS PHOTOGRAPHY PRIZE 2018

The Human Rights Photography Prize 2018 will be awarded in partnership with the Ecole cantonale d’art de Lausanne (the Lausanne Canton School of Art) (ECAL), the Haute école d’art et de design de Genève (the Geneva University of Art and Design) (HEAD–Geneva), the Ecole nationale supérieure de la photographie d’Arles (the National Graduate School of Photography, Arles) (ENSP), the Royal College of Art of London (RCA), Art Bärtschi & Cie, Christie's, FRORIEP, Human Rights Watch, the International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights (FIFDH) and MAPS.

(IN)EQUALITY, THE FUTURE OF GENDER / 2018

Today, gender equality remains an unachieved social standard. Cultural understandings and social interpretations of sex and gender, as well as the rights that those traits imply, divide societies. Across the globe, people’s rights are regularly violated because of their gender identity or their sexual orientation. However, throughout time women and minorities have strived for their voices to be heard, and their efforts and sacrifices have changed our world as we know it. The increased visibility of minorities on the Internet, such as the transgender or intersex communities, has deeply questioned society’s perception of gender. The coming forward of Hollywood actresses on the overarching presence and normalisation of sexual harassment in the work field has put to the forefront a subject often ignored in the past. Uproar against female genital mutilation in Africa, which pushed 19 countries to take legal action and forbid the practice, is evidence of the increasingly stronger voice of African feminism. The list of such movements and social changes across the world becomes greater every day. This evolution makes it possible for us to go beyond the protesting and critiquing of an unequal system and seek solutions for our future.

What does an equal society consist of and is it a utopian vision? Where do the boundaries between equality and inequality lie? The definition we attribute to gender equality is decisive for the future of human rights and our freedom of choice. Therefore, the theme encourages us to explore the significance of gender today and its ability to rise above its past.

JURY / 2018

Simona Ghizzoni, Photographer, MAPS Images
Jörg Bader, Director, Centre de la photographie Genève
Torsten Hattenkerl, Dean of Academic Affairs, HGB Leipzig
Fannie Bourgeois, Associate Specialist, Photographs, Christie's
Aurore Sajhau, Associate Director, Development and Outreach, Human Rights Watch

DEADLINES / 2018

14 October: Deadline for submission
End of October: Jury deliberations
1 November: Announcement of the five finalists
6 December: Award ceremony and opening of the collective exhibition
15 December: End of the exhibition

TO PARTICIPATE

The 2018 Prize is open to students and graduates of ECAL, HEAD–Geneva, ENSP and RCA who meet at least one of the following two conditions:

He or she is a student of ECAL, HEAD-Geneva, ENSP or RCA and has completed at least two semesters of successful studies in one of the training faculties of any of the four Schools, or;
He or she has graduated from one of the above schools in or after 2013.

TWO-PAGER