A U T O P O R T R A I T
Top30
Welcome to the winners and finalists gallery highlighting the Top 30 portraits selected by the jury panel, including the judges personal choices. We would like to thank all photographers who submitted to this Call and for your continued support.
JUDGE'S CHOICE
Jessica
Hines
JUDGE'S CHOICE
Vincent
Gouriou
JUDGE'S CHOICE
Yasemin
Elçi
JUDGE'S CHOICE
Shuchi
Kapoor
JUDGE'S CHOICE
Nadirah Zakariya
Andrés Gallego Spain 1st Prize
Tangled Emotions
In this self-portrait, I want to show a room where the father figure sits next to his sleeping daughter. Despite the comforting presence of the child, a deep sense of loneliness and uncertainty envelops him, as if navigating the intricate emotions of fatherhood. Beyond the window, a cityscape is glimpsed whose distant lights reflect emotional distance. This image captures the bittersweet essence of a father's journey: a fusion of emotions.
Pamela Hanlan USA 2nd Prize
Remembered Childhood
I have a camera and I have so many stories to tell. Stories about childhood, memories, dreams, motherhood, learning (always learning) and the fleeting thoughts that occupy my mind and dreams. I have found that I can tell these stories through photography. So, using long exposure, imagination, and perseverance and ,quite frankly anything at hand and in mind, I set out to tell these stories.
Stefania Bonfiglio Italy 3rd Prize
Cloud
This photograph documents two characteristics of my identity :
On the right, a self-portrait with my head in the clouds and white sheets. (Creativity in constant evolution). On the left, my daughter, portrayed with a blank sheet of paper waiting to be written on, aimed at representing my childish side, the one that is alive deep within every adult. The self-portrait becomes identity and personal research.
Alena Somolonova Russian Federation/Slovenia
Framed
This self-portrait captures a delicate interplay between identity and representation, as if the artist is simultaneously the creator, the observer, and the observed. The framed still-life in the background, depicting the same fruit on the table in front, mirrors the reality of the scene, creating a subtle visual echo. This juxtaposition suggests an internal dialogue: What parts of ourselves are real and tangible, and what elements are merely reflections of who we think we are or want to be? It’s as if the portrait is hinting that the subject is caught between two worlds—the tangible world she inhabits and the idealized version depicted in the background.
Ania Moussawel USA
Mom and I
​The images in my series, “The Days are Long”, center around my grandmother, mother, daughter, and myself. It shows different generations as they grow and age, and the life that continues after the loss of a family member. My family immigrated to the United States from Cuba and Lebanon in the 1970s. The women in my Cuban and Lebanese families have responsibilities that are intrinsic to their roles as mothers including providing, caregiving, and upholding traditions from their countries. Although our experiences have changed from generation to generation, the way these responsibilities have shaped our identity have remained.
Baran Asghari Canada
My mom is back as a bird
I took this photo to process and deal with my emotions after losing my mother. As an immigrant woman, being away from my family did not allow me to express my grieving the way I wanted and therefore I decided to capture my vulnerability in a visual way.
Björn Olssen Sweden
Searching for my soul
Pictures from a series where I try to look into my soul through the camera. These pictures are from a period of stress and lack of sleep in a turning point in my life. How does it come out in my physical expressions? It is a simple set-up with camera, flash and remote control via an Ipad.
Bo Fan China/UK
#5_Water
Wandering In Another Desire Room #5_Water is a self-portrait symbolising my careful, tentative exploration of sexual desire. Growing up in East Asia, where sexual repression, limited education, and marginalisation of sexual minorities prevail, this work reflects my effort to confront and understand it.
#5_Water is a part of my ongoing project Wandering In Another Desire Room, which explores how intimate spaces provide a sense of security, reflecting the queer community’s inability to fully express their lives.
Charles Chao Wang China
Away Way 4.2
Central to the essence of "Tao" are the principles of "following nature" and "the unity of heaven and man.". Coming of age during a period characterised by rapid urbanisation and a restrictive political environment in China, the artist's enduring aspiration has been to seek an avenue of "escape" and cultivate a utopian realm within their psyche. Employing Taoist principles and harnessing the methodologies of meditation and walking meditation as guiding forces, the artist uses photography, particularly within the realm of fashion photography, as the principal medium for delving into their inner reservoir of memories and yearnings.
Eiffel Chong Malaysia
Still life with portrait
Eiffel Chong’s work considers abstract concepts of life and death through the banal details, silent landscapes and curious obsessions he observes from daily life. He is interested in how the photographic medium can translate a particular time and space, memories and thoughts into something permanent. He personally thinks that the images say more with less, and makes one just want to stare and think about it.
Chih-Hao Chuang Taiwan/UK
Ephemeral Intimacy
"Ephemeral Intimacy” delves into the blurred boundaries of connections on dating apps and the individual exploration of love. As a Southeast Asian growing up in a conservative big family, I was taught to conform to societal expectations of heteronormativity. However, my journey of self-discovery began when I turned to dating apps to explore my own identity. I photographed men whom I met online, capturing vulnerable moments and visiting their living spaces. This journey led me to question conventional notions of desire, confront issues of race, and navigate the complexities of contemporary dating culture.
Helen Mountaniol Ukraine/Czechia
Hidden Mother (from the Golden Cage series)
Helen Mountaniol is an award-winning independent photographer based in Prague. Wandering and exploring the globe in an endless search of narratives, her works offer an extensive approach to the anthropological quest. Using a sophisticated visual hook, Helen deals with a wide range of traits as she grips the viewer’s attention to offer a different approach to social order and human rights.
Hideko Junita Shigeno Indonesia
So this is how people see me
I remember how I started taking pictures in my messy bedroom, using bubble wrap as the background, and put my camera on my work chair. That day, a random question popped into my head: 'How do people see me?' As a Japanese-Indonesian, I grew up confused about who I really am. Now, I realize how these deep, sharp eyes have become the strongest part of me, it is my identity. No matter how I was born, raised, or saw myself as a native Indonesian. I’ve come to accept that I am neither fully Indonesian nor fully Japanese, I am both. So now, I ask you: How do you see me?
Kaleef Lawal Nigeria/Germany
Withering
Withering is a standalone self-portrait that honors the deity of water while celebrating the artistry of traditional face paints. It also invites reflection on the nature of memory—how it fades and withers when we fail to hold on to it.
Katerina Kras Russia Federation/Poland
A mother on the verge of a nervous breakdown
I wanted to convey my state in emigration: the quiet rage of a woman who is not living her life the way she would like it to be lived.
Katie Bonzer USA
Me, Myself, I
Self portrait series about work life and home life. Katie Bonzer (b. 1992, Durango, CO) is a photographer based in Los Angeles. Her work explores intricate and often hidden narratives of contemporary existence, focusing on the absurd interplay between work life, home life, and identity. She focuses on creating scenes to illuminate the underlying dynamics and complexities that shape our daily lives. Her photography is a quest to capture the essence of our lived experiences, offering a contemplative space where viewers can confront and connect with the multifaceted realities of their own lives.
Ky Smiley USA
Ky & Kysaan (2023)
This is a second instalment in a photographic series documenting the evolving relationship between my younger brother and me. This series began with a self-portrait we took together after my gender-affirming top surgery in September 2022. This particular photo captures us shirtless in a spare room at our father’s home, reflected in a mirror. For me, it reflects not just our images but the growth of understanding in our relationship as siblings. We are constantly navigating the complexities of queerness while establishing our bond as brothers. The image seeks to share this ongoing story of transcendent love and safety I feel with him as we continue learning from one another and challenging the often calloused and restrictive portrayals of manhood. I no longer desire to imagine masculinity as approachable and loving but intend to help solidify it as such in my own familial relationships.
Margarita Galandina Mongolia/UK
Ovoo - Dissected Identities
Grounded in Mongolian shamanistic tradition, the title refers to the ritual Ovoo (or Obo in Buryat)—a sacred totem pole marking spiritually significant land. These structures, serving as conduits to the spiritual realm, embody the Buryat people's post-nomadic worldview in Siberia. Through this project, I seek to explore how the presence of Ovoos in today's landscape marks Indigenous presence, especially within a post-colonial context. The project combines photography, archival research, and personal history to challenge conventional historical narratives and reassert Indigenous identity.
May Reguera Cuba
Rojo / Waves
La madre/The mother - Parenting comes with exhaustion. Keeping everything under control becomes an exhausting task for me. But the love for my creation is what makes me stand firm. When approaching motherhood, sometimes the less luminous nuances of this process are minimized when they should be normalized as part of this new stage of life.
Nemo Chen USA
Expropriation, Wuhan 2023
The neighbourhood I grew up in was situated around the residence of the Wuhan Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China and the People's Liberation Army. It’s an area close to government offices, and the surrounding environment reflects and responds promptly to new policies and measures. As a resident of this area, I spent my childhood here and transitioned into adulthood.
This place used to be a bakery where students from the nearby school often satisfied their breakfast needs. The building is now one of the vacant assets recovered for the military after the full cessation of reimbursable services. On the wall, a red sign reads, "Military Reserve Camp, strictly forbidden to damage or expropriate," along with a reporting hotline number. I stood in front of this high wall in my student uniform and took this photo of myself with a self-timer.
Olga Steinepreis Russian/Germany
Stranger in the mirror
What do you see when you look in the mirror? Do we truly see ourselves as we really are, and do others perceive us in the same way as we see ourselves in the mirror? This is a fascinating process that involves the brain and its ability to adapt and interpret visual information from the outside. The brain can introduce certain distortions into the image we see in the mirror. It has the capacity to "fill in" details that might be blurry or partially hidden. Can it also include smoothing asymmetries in our faces or even emphasizing our best features, especially if we have a strong desire to appear more attractive?
Patricia Pettitt Portugal
Laws of Silence
Self portrait inspired by a quote from 'Cat on a hot tin Roof' by Tennessee Williams. "When something is festering in your memory or your imagination, laws of silence don't work, it's just like shutting a door and locking it on a house on fire in hope of forgetting that the house is burning."
Quincey Spagnoletti USA
Changing Frames
When I look back at my childhood and how I was raised I am confronted with ideas and notions on how a woman is supposed to act and “perform” for society. Through my pictorial and arts-related explorations of womanhood, I strive to push back against the traditional norms that have dominated my upbringing, in the process highlighting the challenges of my own internalistions of a women’s role and my attempts to disrupt and unlearn what I have inherited. Beginning with personal narratives and conversations with the maternal figures in my life, I set out to construct my own perception of space, and inheritance, based on memory.
Yiqing Lei China/UK
Me in front of my home
Me standing naked in front of my parent's house in China. This is the entrance of the front door. Encapsulate so many years of depression and growth and family history. This is an act of resistant to my culture, my history and my identity. This is a series of self-portrait I shoot on large format film camera. Trying to reveal myself in different location. Trying to reveal my mental and psychological outlook in privacy and also in public.
Sakurako Kuroda Japan
I have to be there - Utamakura
This work is inspired by one of the Shunga which depicted a male-female sex scene. Shunga is a kind of Ukiyoe (wood prints) produced in Japan during the Edo period. It was a form of pornography enjoyed by the general public, as well as a sex instruction manual that parents would sneak into their daughter's bridal kit.
Sean Cham Singapore/UK
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Figure Study - Sit II
Each 'Figure Study' image emulates the poses in the colonial photograph, to bring focus to how colonial bodies have been portrayed, shaping the way we look at such images. Set against the backdrop of my London apartment, these self-portraits are imbued with personal significance. This process serves not only as a means of artistic expression, but also as a way of navigating my complex identity as someone from a former colony now residing in the land of its imperial master.
Sandra Lee Stark USA
Self portrait with Emily
Reflecting on Manet's Luncheon in the Grass and how my 71 year body might fit into the landscape.
Sharon Draghi USA
Fill me up
My work explores interiority and the solitariness of one’s inner world. I use photography to create open-ended narratives about the passage of time and the notion of what it is to be seen. The images reflect on the restrictive roles that society imposes on women and the contradiction between the need to be visible and the need to shut out the world and retreat.
Stefi Praprotnik Borko Slovenia
Coexistence
This autoportrait was taken at the clinic where I work as a vet. Bengal cat was very cooperative although she did not belong to me.
Xiangyu Dong China/UK
‘Drag It Till You Make It’
This portrait is a celebration of queer fantasy. It recreates queers' discovery of identities through dressing up as growing up. In an intimate family space, queer children often daydream by role-playing characters from films or plays. It is a relief from the high pressure of the patriarchal alliance outside of their reality. In their roles, they can explore who they want to be in the future, which helps queers counter heteronormativity and embrace their queerness.
Ania Moussawel USA
Motherhood
​The images in my series, “The Days are Long”, center around my grandmother, mother, daughter, and myself. It shows different generations as they grow and age, and the life that continues after the loss of a family member. My family immigrated to the United States from Cuba and Lebanon in the 1970s. The women in my Cuban and Lebanese families have responsibilities that are intrinsic to their roles as mothers including providing, caregiving, and upholding traditions from their countries. Although our experiences have changed from generation to generation, the way these responsibilities have shaped our identity have remained.