New East Photo Prize now closed for submissions

Submissions are now closed for the New East Photo Prize, an award championing contemporary photography from the New East – eastern Europe, the Balkans, Russia and Central Asia – launched by Calvert 22 and The Calvert Journal in May this year.

More than a thousand entries were submitted before the deadline at midnight last night. The prize was open to nationals of the 29 New East countries, with the highest number of submissions coming from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia and Poland.

Entries will now be judged by an international panel of leading figures from photography, art and media including award-winning photographers Donald Weber and Alexander Gronsky; Roger Tooth, Head of Photography at the Guardian and Observer; award-winning artist Taus Makhacheva; and Ekow Eshun, Creative Director of Calvert 22 Foundation.

The winner of the prize will be offered the opportunity to publish a body of work as a new photo book and will also take part in a two-month group exhibition of shortlisted work at Calvert 22 Foundation’s space in London in November 2016.

A range of short and longlisted entrants will receive significant international exposure through the online and social media channels of The Calvert Journal, while selected finalists will also have their work featured by New East Photo Prize partners The Guardian and Bird in Flight. The winner of the Special Prize, dedicated to unfinished documentary projects, will receive a £1000 grant toward the completion of their project from Bird in Flight.

Keep your eyes peeled for competition updates on The Calvert Journal – the shortlisted entries will be published by mid-September.