“The Village Women” win Imaging Moldova photo contest

The OSCE Mission to Moldova awarded on Friday, December 14, the winners of the photo contest “Imagining Moldova – Diversity and Identity”. The first prize was awarded to Iurie Foca for his photo “Satencele” (The Village Women). The village women in the picture were caught by Foca’s camera during a wedding ceremony in the remote village of Criva, Briceni district. The most interesting moments of a Moldovan wedding are actually occurring near the fence where the village women gather to observe the wedding and have a chit-chat, Iurie Foca, a professional photographer for the National Museum of Art, said in his speech for the awards ceremony. Irina Grabovan, director of the AoRTa Gallery, said “The Village Women” is a remarkable piece of work. Given that portrait photography is a very difficult genre, only a true professional can bring into focus all the figures in the picture, said Irina Grabovan. Dorin Nicolaescu Musteata received the second prize for “Purcelusul” (The Pigglet), and the third prize was divided between Egor Tetiusev (for “Icarus”) and Octav Esinencu (for “Sadova-Padova”). The winning images, reflecting on the life in Moldova, its rich diversity, traditions and modern developments, were selected from some 800 entries submitted by 85 photographers. Gottfried Hanne, the Acting Head of the OSCE Mission said at the awards ceremony that the photo contest pursued three main goals: to consolidate the freedom of press in Moldova, to promote photo-journalism, and offer the young photographers an opportunity to showcase their talent. The jury of the contest consisted of Vasile Botnaru, Director of the Chisinau office of Radio Liberty; Corina Cepoi, Director of the Independent Journalism Centre; Mihai Fusu, art director and actor; Irina Grabovan, Director of the AoRTa Gallery; and Roman Jagupov, lead singer of the band Zdob si Zdub. The best 50 photos will be displayed at an exhibition hosted by the OSCE Mission until January 5.