Audience choice award goes to Admirer

Den’s 15th Photo Exhibit came to an end in Kyiv art gallery “Lavra.” On the last day of exhibiting 350 best photo shots of the country selected in the course of the Den’s International Photo Contest over 1,000 people came to the art gallery. A few dozens of the most loyal fans of contemporary photography waited for the grand closing of the exhibition and announcement of the results of people’s vote for the photo, which won the audience award.

Overall, Den’s exhibit has been attended by over 8,000 people. Almost 1,000 of the visitors took part in the vote.

So, the first place in the audience vote went to the photo by Oleksandr SYNYTSIA Admirer (Kyiv). Visitors preferred positive emotions and optimism. We must say that only a few dozen votes behind Admirer were the photo by Maksym ASOULIAK Jury (Kyiv) and by Volodymyr FALIN Flowers of Life (Kyiv). Among the five top photos, according to the audience opinion, there were also the photos by Andrii NESTERENKO Before the Concert (Kyiv) and by Mykola TYMCHENKO The First ABC (The Day, Kyiv).

“You must sell tickets to Den’s Photo Exhibit! Seriously. Visitors should pay for such amazing sight. Den did a colossal job and now invites people to come and see extremely optimistic and living Ukraine absolutely for free,” Zoriana YAKYMOVA, regular visitor of the photo exhibitions, shared her impressions. “From these photos we can see that life goes on. People look for the good things and seek striking emotions. Even the sad philosophical photos revealing complex subjects are made with special attitude. We come to see the photo exhibition nearly every year. This time we came here the day before its closing and we are already looking forward to the next exhibition!”

FIRST PLACE IN THE AUDIENCE VOTE WENT TO THE PHOTO BY OLEKSANDR SYNYTSIA ADMIRER (KYIV)

“It’s not my first time at Den’s Photo Exhibit,” said former employee of the Ukrainian National Radio Zoia YEHOROVA. “It is nice that the exhibition does not stand still and is growing every year. Original and amply-named photos attract the attention right away. In my opinion, the art gallery ‘Lavra’ is the best site for such event, I really like the atmosphere here. This year an incredible number of photos have been presented at the exhibition – it is very difficult to choose your favorite one. Not only the photo exhibition, but also the newspaper and its projects, namely Den’s Library, form a certain image of Ukraine and try to show us something we do not know about ourselves. Every time the photo exhibition becomes for Ukrainians a discovery of their own people from a new angle.”

“Portrait of Ukraine, depicted in the photos turned out pretty bright and it is great because we do not always notice this diversity in life,” Nadia PETRUNOK, graduate student of the National University Kyiv Mohyla Academy, shared her impressions. “Real photography is always not artificial – it speaks through emotions. Thus, camera is a very important instrument! What matters is only the ability to master it. This year’s photo exhibit of Den (as many held before) gives inspiration! We look forward to the next exhibitions!”

During the closing ceremony of the exhibition, special prizes – one year subscription to the newspaper, books from Den’s Library series, and branded cards were put up for lottery for the most active visitors, who took part in the vote for the best photo.

“I had no idea that such large-scale exhibitions take place here in Ukraine. I am glad that I came here on the closing day. You get the feeling that Ukraine lives by reportage photography – you can see joy, pain, success, and disappointment from all the regions in the photos,” Anton KHYTROV, Moscow resident, winner of Den’s lottery, shared his impressions. “I had an emotional relaxation at the photo exhibition and also won a great photo album. Thank you once again.”

This year the Prize of Prizes “Golden Day” was awarded to Natalia Kravchuk for her political reportage YES. Yalta 2013 and the Grand Prix was awarded to Yevhen Malolietka for his photograph from a Hutsul wedding Portrait Against a Highland Backdrop. After the closing of the exhibition in Kyiv it will travel around Ukraine. You can find information about where and when it will be held next in announcements in Den/The Day and on the newspaper’s website.