About Emergentes
The Emergentes Portfolio Reviews for 2023 are open for submissions responding to this year’s festival theme, Essay for the Future, until 4 June. Encontros da Imagem is excited to announce that our annual portfolio reviews — with a jury of internationally and nationally acclaimed professionals in the photography industry — are returning to the historic city of Braga in September 2023. This Award offers a chance to meet with specialized commissioners, gallerists, curators and publishers in the field to present your portfolios, promote your work and receive valuable feedback and advice. The jury will be looking for the best contemporary photographic works, and will award the 1st place winner a prize of 5000€ and a solo exhibition at Encontros da Imagem festival in 2024. The 9 remaining finalists will receive the opportunity to exhibit their work in a group exhibition at the festival in 2024.
For its 33rd edition, the international photography and visual arts festival chose the theme "Essay for the Future". There is a desire to explore the challenges that the world continues to experience and the conversations that are still necessary: representation and inclusion, environmental sustainability, the politics of everyday life and social movements as powerful forces for change. It remains urgent to stop and listen. As democracies show signs of fragility and extremism grows in the frenzy of the virtual world and real life, we must take time to consider new forms of organization, ways of life and creation. In 2023, with "Essay for the Future", we think about the present so that we may, together, imagine and build the future.
What winners receive
- Winner: Monetary prize of 5000€ (five thousand euros) and a solo exhibition in the next edition of the festival in 2024;
- The 9 remaining finalists will receive the opportunity to exhibit their work in a group exhibition at the festival in 2024.
About Encontros da Imagem
Encontros da Imagem, with more than thirty years of existence, is a non-profit cultural association that promotes annually an International Photography and Visual Arts Festival in the city of Braga, Portugal. The festival celebrates classic and contemporary photography and visual arts in general by showcasing emerging and established artists. Every year Encontros da Imagem promotes an open call for the Discovery Awards, where the winners have the opportunity to exhibit their work during the festival. Encontros da Imagem also organizes another award - Emergentes - International Photography Award Encontros da Imagem, this prize is awarded after the Portfolio Review, which gives photographers the opportunity to show their work to an international jury, composed by commissioners, gallery owners and expert editors, thus establishing solid foundations for the promotion of their work. The festival has developed an eclectic programme. This year the theme is Essay for the Future, where numerous artists emerging and established, national and international will be shown in several public and private spaces (historical and monumental buildings, museums, galleries and others). Encontros da Imagem is a cultural photographic reference in Portugal, and has reached a prominent position in the international panorama, being one of the oldest photography festivals in Europe.
