4,500 euros, politics, and an exhibition marathon in Białystok

Since 2013, the Interphoto photography festival has been held every two years in Białystok, in eastern Poland. Last year, it was canceled due to a lack of funding and was therefore postponed to this year. This was my fourth time attending the festival. The theme of the festival this time is Collecting Worlds. The opening events took place in the last week of September, featuring a series of exhibition openings, multimedia presentations, lectures, and a portfolio review in which I participated as a reviewer. From Latvia, former head of the Latvian Museum of Photography, Maira Dudareva, was also at the festival, now she’s promoting photography in Sigulda. Among the exhibition participants, we could also see the works of Latvian photographer Alnis Stakle, showcased both in his solo exhibition Mellow Apocalypse and in the Grand Prix competition final—a group exhibition with 10 participants, one of whom won the main prize of 20,000 zlotys (approximately 4,500 euros). Discover who took home the main prize, what unfolded behind the scenes, and the insights from festival staff and participants in this video!

Subtitles in English and Latvian are available.