Today the Journal is entirely devoted to the exhibition of the Pride Photo Award, which opened this weekend in Amsterdam. The Journal was made entirely by Christian Caujolle. This is the great talent of Christian, to discover a photography that is not frequently published.
Christian presents it this way: “The awards dedicated to photography are numerous, few of them are as original and demanding as the Pride Photo Award, which just opened its exhibition in Amsterdam. It is clearly an offshoot of the gay community which is dynamic in the Netherlands, he insists on the diversity within this community which is resolutely international and, more importantly, is very exigent in relation to photography. This convinced us to dedicate the whole day. Especially since the award is only in its second year!”
The Pride Photo Award is absolutely modeled on the principles of the World Press Photo, in its separation of images into categories, in its awarding of three prizes per category, and that it chooses the Photo of the Year from the winners of those categories. As the name suggests, however, this award is thematic, focusing not on warfare, portraits, sports or nature, but on questions of sexual identity. At a time when respectable universities on the old continent are following the American example and forming “Gender” departments, the prize is rather welcome. All the more so in that it is both photographically and conceptually demanding, that it is open to photographers of all countries and sexual persuasions, and that its categories are more oriented toward photographic technique than subject. In the end, the prize features photographs of high quality, a variety of coherent aesthetics (which the World Press Photo often lacks) and, this year, a surprising winner, the completely unknown Chris Rijksen, a student and militant lesbian whose determined, amused approach to the self-portrait impressed the jury, whose debates were animated and friendly and tinged with a refreshing sense of humor. But that wasn’t the only surprise. You can judge for yourself.
Christian Caujolle
The central exhibition will be in The Old Church (“De Oude Kerk”) in Amsterdam from September 29 until October 28.
