On Tuesday, 3 October 2017 a winner was declared in our 6th annual Photo Contest, held throughout the month of September for Alvantia employees.Just like every year, all employees could enter by sending a picture taken by them at any time between September 2016 and September 2017. This edition has registered a significant number of competitors, but an independent professional panel allowed us to select the winning photographs:

 

First prize: “Upside down in Marsella”, by Xavier Baeza

This photograph won because of the clear intention of changing an existing reality. By changing the natural perception, the author has created a disturbing and strange picture. It is just when we pay attention to the buildings in the background that we can clearly notice the illusion. This way we can create a story about reality and reflection that it is not obvious at all at a glance and which could lead to a photographical series. This picture also forces the viewer to adopt an active approach, since he is not only a passive observer. The picture forces him to understand the “magic trick”, to remain looking for additional tricks and to search any additional stories. 

 

First finalist: “In the black limbo”, by Javier Carralero

As social photography, this picture tries to convey a message. It does not only limit to the mere act of pressing the shutter release when finding something “beautiful”. There is an intention of showing something in a concrete way. The picture has been changed to black and white in order to convey drama. Colour is limited to a single point: the shoes, which grab our attention, although we do not know the reason. A point in favour is that the photographer has not taken the picture from a standing and dominant position, rather he has knelt in order to be at the person’s level. Composition is also remarkable. The background presents a geometrical cold and flat composition, with the vertical and horizontal lines of the wall and door. Those contrast with the organic and exhausted character sitting on the street. It is also important that he is sitting on the bottom of the picture, under the horizontal line that divides the picture into two. The lines of the door and the wall symbolically force the character to be compressed in order to intensify the critic and social tone. The picture has also been reduced to focus on the important, removing any other elements that could distract our attention. 

 

Second finalist: “Rice farmers in Bali”, by María Isabel García – Hierro

Despite the low quality of the camera, the photographer has achieved a good lighting compensation. Obtaining a high level of detail in the clouds and dark clothes was a complicated task with such a bright sky. There is also a good contrast even though there is not any pure black or white colour in the image. There is also a good composition, since we find several imaginary interlaced lines. There is a diagonal line marked by the person standing in front of the camera and the horizontal line created by the sky and the people looking to the ground. The water’s reflections also mark a triangle on the right. The characters bending down on the right side enhance the composition by creating symmetry with two complementary colours (green and red). Perhaps a close-up of the character would have increased the picture’s depth. 

 

Third finalist: “Route 66”, by Javier García

This is a great picture in terms of framing. The composition is completely horizontal (increased even more by the reduction of the size of the image a posteriori) and the cold and warm colours distinction (sky and ground). The image is sober, calm and it is only “broken” by an emphatic sharp figure with darker colours on the left that creates a mass compensation. The introductory element has been correctly placed in that area and evokes a man with a cane because of its shape. Streets are not places, but transit points. Thus, this implies going somewhere else and that premise sparks off possible stories related to what is represented. There is an expectant object or character that introduces a narrative element. What thing is it waiting? Where is it looking?

We really appreciate our employees’ involvement in this sixth edition and encourage everyone to keep taking part in Alvantia’s activities. Congratulations to the winner of the contest!