Magnum Photos and its educational partners IdeasTap are excited to announce the 18 photographers selected to compete in the next stages of the 2014 Magnum IdeasTap Photographic Award.
Each photographer will receive a mentoring session with a Magnum photographer and receive £60 of Blurb book vouchers. Their work will be printed, framed and displayed at a special exhibition in the autumn.
During the exhibition process, nine finalists – three from each group – will receive £1,500 to shoot their dream project and will attend a second mentoring session. Ultimately, one photographer from each category will win £5,000 and the two UK-based photographers also will do sought-after paid internships with Magnum.
UK 16 - 25 years
Albert Elm shot <a href='http://elm_albert.ideastap.com/Project/a8d2772e-d103-4230-9d0d-a36b00e1193c/fish-out-of-water' target='_blank'>Fish out of water</a> while travelling by train through north-eastern China and Siberia. His grainy, flash-infused images, which capture surreal moments, give the feeling of being an outsider in a foreign place.
<a href='http://1419.ideastap.com/Project/439faf00-5b38-4365-9f89-a36a00ce4f28/ideastap-photographic-award-16-25' target='_blank'>Blind Landing Experimental Unit</a> (BLEU) by Alex F. Webb explores the 1980 Rendlesham Forest Incident – an alleged UFO landing. Alex combines original photography with found materials, probing the line between fact and fiction.
With <a href='http://sophie-green-studio.ideastap.com/Project/7b3c6264-2d30-4d64-9bf2-a36901686053/bangers-smash' target='_blank'>Bangers & Smash</a>, Sophie Green takes us inside the world of stock car and banger racing. Shot at Wimbledon Stadium, using available light, the series celebrates the competitive and community spirit of the sport’s participants.
What is it like to live in the most sparsely populated country in Europe? <a href='http://cianobasmith.ideastap.com/Project/00f846c9-822f-43c7-af98-a36a012b6a49/ideastap-photographic-award-16-25' target='_blank'>Cian Oba-Smith’s</a> crisp shots of Icelandic people and places respond to this question, as well as to the isolation that Cian himself experienced while working there.
Loosely following an old map, Jack Latham headed west along the Oregon Trail, retracing the steps of American settlers. Shot on large-format, <a href='http://jacklatham.ideastap.com/Project/683e2c19-bae2-4750-9df4-a35a00e04e6c/ideastap-photographic-award-2014-16-25' target='_blank'>A Pink Flamingo</a> documents this journey and asks what it means to travel in search of a better life.
Oliver Tooke photographed Syrian refugees who, having fled the conflict, now live in Lebanon – a country that’s seen its share of wars. <a href='http://tookeo.ideastap.com/Project/7819a556-c95c-4aba-bb7e-a354015ff30b/ideastap-award-2014-shadow-of-the-eagle---leb' target='_blank'>Shadow of the Eagle</a> is the beginning of a long-term project about the consequences of the Arab Spring.
UK 26+ years
While wider society grows ever more materialistic and obsessed with novelty, the nuns of Sclerder Abbey spend their days praying and working in silence. <a href='http://ibolya_feher.ideastap.com/Project/e590454e-dd3a-468c-a946-a36a00c6d803/ideastap-photographic-award-26-and-over-siste' target='_blank'>Ibolya Feher</a>, a rare visitor to the Abbey, documents their alternative way of life.
Marita Pappa cites Terence Malik, the beat poets and Nina Simone among the inspirations for her project, <a href='http://marita_pappa.ideastap.com/Project/3555d488-0cd8-41ef-9206-a36a00be94d7/ideastap-photographic-award-26-and-overathens' target='_blank'>Athens Blues</a>. In pink, blue and purple hues, the pictures show a dream-like side to the photographer’s home city.
The title for <a href='http://magdarakita.ideastap.com/' target='_blank'>God made woman then he jerked</a> comes from a mural on a wall in Monrovia. Shot in 2013, Magda Rakita’s project sensitively explores the situation of young women in Liberia a decade since its 14-year civil war ended.
Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano has been running since 1925, making it one of the world’s oldest airlines. But now it’s threatened with closure. <a href='http://nickballon.ideastap.com/' target='_blank'>Nick Ballon’s</a> subtle, large-format images are a poignant homage to the airline’s staff and grand history.
We can only imagine the pain that the families of Poland’s thousands of missing people must feel. <a href='http://karfot22.ideastap.com/Project/3652023b-b240-4b1a-9f5a-a2ab0176a7b4/lost' target='_blank'>Karolina Jonderko</a> travelled to meet them, photographing their loved ones’ former rooms – some of which have been left empty for years.
<a href='http://sarah_fishlock.ideastap.com/Project/383b96ef-c915-419a-bcb3-a33a00a691f4/middlemen-ideastapmagnum-photographic-award-2' target='_blank'>Middlemen</a> follows three Iraqi, former military interpreters resettled in Glasgow under the government’s Locally Engaged Staff Assistance Scheme. Sarah Amy Fishlock takes us into their new lives, far from their friends, family and history.
International category
German filmmaker-turned-photographer Gil Bartz shot his project, <a href='http://gil.ideastap.com/' target='_blank'>Ukraine</a>, before the current crisis began. His atmospheric, black and white pictures show the array of characters he met over the two months he spent in the country.
Seen through <a href='http://laurencehg.ideastap.com/Project/389dbf5f-c47e-4714-bd41-a35f0152e48e/route-117' target='_blank'>Laurence Hervieux-Gosselin’s</a> lens, R-117, a highway in Quebec, Canada is anything but ordinary. Her pictures, taken at night on medium-format, using long exposures, transform this provincial road into a beautiful, magical place.
Spanish photographer Álvaro Laiz’s project <a href='http://alvarolaiz.ideastap.com/Media/970de6a1-42cb-4924-afe0-a362013aa9b9/transmongolian/transmongolianideastap-01' target='_blank'>Transmongolia</a> is about gay, lesbian and transgender people in Mongolia. Faced with rampant discrimination, some leave to find a new life in more tolerant countries such as Japan and the Philippines.
Adél Koleszár moved to Mexico from her native Hungary half a year ago. Told through bold, curious shots of situations, people and objects, <a href='http://adel-koleszar.ideastap.com/' target='_blank'>Life Death and Mexico</a> narrates Adél’s personal journey of adjusting to life in a new city.
Nairobi-based, American-born <a href='http://adrianeoh.ideastap.com/' target='_blank'>Adriane Ohanesian’s</a> work examines the role and experience of female soldiers in the Kachin Independence Army. The KIA is the last rebel group in Myanmar not to have signed a ceasefire with the government.
The Ramayana is the starting point for Vasantha Yogananthan’s project, <a href='http://vasantha.ideastap.com/Project/47941b8a-60f4-4f5f-9ba4-a33800edd9e9/a-myth-of-two-souls-ideastap-photographic-awa' target='_blank'>A myth of two souls</a>. Using pictures, words, extracts from the text, and other documents, Vasantha investigates the literary masterpiece’s enduring influence on Indian life.