Judges from this year include leading figures from PhotoVogue, PHOTO International Festival of Photography, PhotoIreland and more. Together, they will shortlist 200 images that will be featured in the Portrait of Humanity Vol. 6 photo book published by Bluecoat Press, plus select the 3 outstanding bodies of work and 30 single images that will be exhibited internationally.
Alessia Glaviano, the esteemed Head of Global PhotoVogue and Director of the PhotoVogue Festival, is a prominent figure in international photographic criticism. In 2011, Glaviano launched PhotoVogue, an innovative platform where users can share their photographs under the curatorial supervision of professional photo editors. Now in its 12th year, with over 350,000 photographers ranging from amateurs to professionals worldwide, PhotoVogue relaunched in early 2022. This relaunch marked its global expansion and a shift to include media in all forms.
The mission of PhotoVogue has consistently been to champion talent, both emerging and established, and to influence visual literacy, shaping a more just, ethical, and inclusive visual world. PhotoVogue’s open calls have been instrumental in launching the careers of notable photographers such as Nadine Ijewere, Luis Alberto Rodriguez, Kyle Weeks, Camila Falquez, Kennedi Carter, Scandebergs, and Mous Lamrabat, among others.
Curating a diverse pool of incredible image-makers globally, PhotoVogue stands as an industry-leading platform, exemplifying diversity behind the camera and a multitude of perspectives.
In an expanded role, Alessia Glaviano is steering PhotoVogue into its next phase while continuing to lead its creative direction. Over her 20-plus years with Condé Nast, Glaviano has not only launched and overseen PhotoVogue but also driven select special events and curated exhibitions in prestigious museums and institutions with some of the most significant artists of our time. She developed Vogue Italia’s Instagram strategy, curated a series of Masters of Photography video interviews, and led the art direction of numerous digital branded-content projects, including the iconic Gucci beauty story featuring Ellie Goldstein.
To create a physical and virtual space for bringing the community together and advancing discussions on creativity, diversity, and justice in image-making, Glaviano directed the first edition of the PhotoVogue Festival in Milan in 2016. This event, the first conscious fashion photography festival linked to an influential fashion publication, focused on the intersection between Ethics and Aesthetics. It engaged the entire city of Milan with talks, exhibitions, and photography-related initiatives. The festival’s eight editions, from 2016 to 2023, have consistently been met with critical acclaim and public success. In addition to her editorial work, Alessia regularly holds lectures and conferences. She has been invited as a guest lecturer at institutions such as the University of Brighton, Central Saint Martins, IED, Bocconi University, and the Milan Polytechnic.
Glaviano has also served as a jury member in numerous internationally acclaimed photography contests, including the World Press Photo, the Festival International de Mode et de Photographie à Hyères, and the Leica Oskar Barnack Award. She has participated in several portfolio review sessions, including the “New York Times Portfolio Reviews.
Elias Redstone is the founder and Artistic Director of PHOTO 2021 International Festival of Photography. With over 15 years experience within the arts sector, Elias has a track record of initiating and delivering innovative cultural programs in collaboration with leading institutions such as Barbican Art Gallery, MoMA and Storefront for Art and Architecture. He was Curator of the Polish Pavilion at the 2010 Venice Biennale and Senior Curator at the Architecture Foundation, London. He has edited publications for Prestel, Sternberg Press and Bedford Press, and served as Contributing Editor for Arena Homme Plus and GQ Style. His book Shooting Space: Architecture in Contemporary Photography is published by Phaidon.
Ioana Mello operates as an independent photography curator, navigating between Europe and Brazil. Her notable curatorial endeavors include ‘What’s going on in Brazil?’ at Rencontres d’Arles 2019, held at the Manuel Rivera Ortiz Foundation; ‘Pau Brasilia,’ featuring José Diniz at the collective exhibition ‘Grow up’ at Fondation Manuel Rivera Ortiz during Rencontres d’Arles 2023, and ‘Still I Speak’ showcasing Juliana Sícoli at Ricardo Fernandes Gallery in 2023.
In Portugal, Mello curated an exhibition in 2021 at Tryzy gallery and co-curated events with IANDÉ at the Diafragma festival 2021 and Imago Photography Festival 2022. In Brazil, she served as a professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio) and was a jury member for the Web Photo Prize of the Alliance Française. As one of the six directing members of the FotoRio festival, she curated individuals such as Morteza Niknahad and Camille Gharbi. Mello collaborates with Galeria da Gávea and other Brazilian festivals and galleries.
Currently, she is immersed in the creation of two photography books and contributes to various magazines. Mello actively participates in portfolio readings (Photodays, Filles de la Photo), roundtables, and talks. In 2021, she contributed to the Ithaque residency for Latin American photographers and initiated the La.Ima association in 2023.
Ángel Luis González Fernández is a designer, artist, and curator known for championing engaging visual arts practices. He is the recipient of the Business to Arts David Manley Emerging Entrepreneur Awards in 2011. His impactful work is channeled through PhotoIreland, an initiative he founded in 2010 to foster critical dialogues on Photography.
González Fernández conceives curatorial projects that bring conversations on visual culture and critical thinking into the public realm. These projects encompass diverse events such as the PhotoIreland Festival, Halftone Print Fair, arts residency ‘How to Flatten a Mountain,’ and ‘New Irish Works.’ He has established a cultural hub known as The Library Project, Ireland’s Art bookshop, which hosts a unique resource library of photobooks and an active arts program. Additionally, his publishing projects aim to provide affordable access to local practices, while research initiatives like the Critical Academy explore contemporary art practices.
Collaborating extensively with a growing network of organizations, González Fernández is particularly recognized for his ambitious Creative Europe partnerships. During the Summer 2020 lockdown, he successfully launched the critical publication ‘OVER Journal,’ now distributed globally. In recognition of his contributions, he received the Arts Council of Ireland’s Visual Arts Bursary. This grant supports his in-depth research on the historical and artistic context of Photography in Ireland, enabling him to curate an ambitious survey exhibition at the PhotoIreland Festival in 2022 and publish a series of works on the subject.
Max Gorbatskyi is a curator at Open Eye Gallery in Liverpool, UK. Alongside Viktoria Bavykina, he has been appointed as the curator of the Ukrainian Pavilion at the 60th Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia in 2024. Prior to his role at Open Eye Gallery, Gorbatskyi served as a curator at the Department of Contemporary Art at Mystetskyi Arsenal in Kyiv, Ukraine. During his tenure, he led the photography direction and co-curated the notable exhibition ‘Sensitivity: Contemporary Ukrainian Photography.’
Gorbatskyi’s primary focus has long been on contemporary photography and private photo archives. In collaboration with Bavykina, he co-founded Ukrainian.Photographies, a platform dedicated to fostering international research on Ukrainian photography. In 2023, they curated the HOME program, in partnership with Open Eye Gallery, which was featured alongside Eurovision 2023 in Liverpool. The program is currently on a national tour.
A recipient of the UK government’s Chevening Scholarship, Gorbatskyi holds an MA in History of Photography from Birkbeck College, University of London, and an MA in Cultural Management from the University of Bologna.
Miho Odaka moved to the U.K. after graduating from Sophia University’s Department of English Literature. She earned her Master’s degree from Falmouth College of Arts, Institute of Photography. Gaining independence after working as a photo editor and at a commercial gallery in Tokyo, she is currently involved in various projects, including curation, coordinating exhibitions, artist management, editorial projects for photo books, and writing.
The highlights of her work include coordinating the Mario Giacomelli Exhibition “The Black is Waiting for White” (Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, 2013), “Photography Now!” (IMA Gallery, 2014), and being the curator for the “Tokyo International Photography Festival” (Tokyo, 2015), Co-Curator for T3 Photo Festival (Ueno Park, Tokyo, 2017), and Curator for “Family Tree” by Yuki Harada and Yuki Tawada (Omotesando gallery, Tokyo, 2019). She also worked on “Tokyo Dialogue” (2021-2024, T3 Photo Festival).
Her editorial work includes Sohei Nishino’s “Water Line-a Story of the Po River” (DAMIANI, 2019) and Naoki Ishikawa’s “Everest/K2” (CCC Media House, 2019). Since 2015, she has been in charge of the Prix Pictet touring exhibition in Tokyo as a coordinator and curator. Currently, she is a part-time lecturer at Nihon University’s Fine Art Department, specializing in the photography course.
Amak Mahmoodian (b. 1980, Shiraz, Iran) is an award-winning multidisciplinary artist and educator. She embarked on her career as a research-based photographer in Iran in 2003 at the Art University of Tehran. Since 2007, she has been residing in the UK, where she practices as a visual artist and lectures in Photography at the University of the West of England. In 2015, she successfully completed a practice-based PhD in photography at the University of South Wales.
Utilizing photography, text, video, drawing, archives, and sound within the intersection of conceptual and documentary photography, Amak’s artistic practice delves into the presentation of gender, identity, and displacement, bridging the gap between the personal and the political.
Amak’s projects manifest across various platforms, including installations, books, and films. Her work has been extensively exhibited and has garnered numerous awards, finding a place in collections and museums such as Tate Modern and the Victoria & Albert Museum in the UK.
She has authored two books, ‘Shenasnameh’ (RRB- ICV Lab, 2016), which was shortlisted for The First Author book award at Rencontres Arles, and ‘Zanjir’ (RRB, 2019), the winner of The Best Photo Textbook award at Rencontres Arles.
Sueraya Shaheen is recognized for her documentary-style portraiture rooted in fine art. Born in Beirut to Syrian parents, she is deeply involved in the region’s art scene and co-founded Tribe, a platform for Contemporary Photography from the Arab World (@tribephotomag). Shaheen is renowned as the go-to photographer for artist portraits and has dedicated over 10 years to compiling an archive of portraits of artists from the MENA region. The series, collectively titled ENCOUNTERS, has been exhibited in London, Mexico City, Houston, and Bahrain.
In her free time, Shaheen endeavors to practice simply being present and enjoying the moment and her surroundings. However, she admits that it can be challenging; her basic instinct is to photograph what she sees. She has become so accustomed to it that it’s difficult to refrain from snapping pictures, almost like an addiction. She humorously refers to it as ‘going to the gym’ to hone her photography skills and master her craft.
Founder and Director, Banana Emoji
Tanlume Enyatseng is a journalist, creative director, and cultural entrepreneur based in Southern Africa. Advocating passionately for creative intellect and culture, he serves as the Founder and Director of Banana Emoji, a multidisciplinary platform and creative studio. Additionally, Tanlume is the founder and active contributor to the queer artistic collective, Banana Club. Recently, he was honored with the title of Photoworks UK’s 2023 Writer in Residence.
Senior Photo Editor, National Geographic
Samantha Clark is a photo editor and journalist based in Washington DC. She’s currently a senior photo editor at National Geographic, where she commissions and curates photography for the magazine, website, and social platforms and works with photographers on stories about science, the environment, history, and place. She also leads digital publishing for the photography department.
Portrait and Documentary Photographer
Melissa Alcena is a Bahamian portrait and documentary photographer based between The Bahamas and NYC. Alcena’s practice has been the lens through which she has reintroduced herself to the Bahamian landscape, after studying in Canada. Through this exploration and reintroduction, Alcena documents people in situ, expanding the visual tropes often exported from the Caribbean. Often in conversation with her subjects, Alcena’s photographs are a testament to kinship and an ode to the landscape.
Manager and Partner, MAS Matbaa. Founder, MASA
Ufuk Şahin studied photography at Hofstra University, NY. Since 2007, he has been part of the core team at MAS printing house as the second-generation manager and partner. In 2010, he founded MASA, a publishing house specializing in facsimiles, photobooks and art-books; which has since published more than 40 books. He is a photography enthusiast and an avid photobook collector.
