The winners of UP24 contest exhibited at MUSEC Lugano

The Fondazione culture e musei (FCM) and the Museo delle Culture di Lugano (MUSEC) announce the winners of the 2024 edition of Unpublished Photo (UP), an international competition created to promote new trends in art photography among young talents from around the world. The initiative, originally conceived by the Milanese gallery 29 ARTS IN PROGRESS, is now a major event on the international art scene, consolidated by the FCM and MUSEC from 2020 to ensure its institutional framework and medium-to-long-term development perspective.

The UP contest aims to identify and highlight the main emerging trends in contemporary art photography. With each edition, MUSEC intends to enrich its collections with new works, thus contributing to the creation of an archive of contemporary photography that already numbers over 40,000 works, from the 19th century to the present day.

The 2024 edition of UP saw the participation of over two hundred young photographers from thirty-five countries, with a strong representation from Iran, Italy, India and Russia. The candidates, aged between 18 and 30, submitted their projects composed of 10 free-themed images, consistent in style and content.

The four winners were selected by an international jury chaired by Marco Bischof, which met in Venice at the headquarters of the Istituto veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti a partner in the project.

The UP24 contest awarded Amirhosein Esparham, the first runner-up, a monetary prize of CHF 3,500; while the second to fourth runners-up each received a prize of CHF 500.

The four winners are also rewarded with the publication of a catalogue (Edizioni FCM) containing all the photographs submitted to the competition, and a temporary exhibition. The costs of these enhancement activities amount to CHF 50,000 and are covered entirely by the FCM.

The winners of the 2024 edition and the jury's motivations:
Amirhosein Esparham (Iran, 1996) impressed the jury with Together, Alone, a project dealing with the spread of loneliness in his home country. The images, realised with a masterful handling of light and staging, portray friends and acquaintances in a sequence of shots that reveal their fears and weaknesses, making the theme of loneliness universal.



Gabriele D'Agostino (Italy, 1995), originally from Palermo and now living in Milan, presented Cuore Nero-Metrò, an intimate and delicate reportage taken with a mobile phone inside the Milan metro. His images, which explore humanity in an impersonal and frenetic context, won over the jury for their ability to convey authentic emotions.

Claudy Woods (England, 2003) offered a powerful reflection on femininity and spirituality with her project Every saint has a past. Through self-portraits reinterpreting ten figures of saints, Woods explores gender dynamics and religious preconceptions, demonstrating an artistic maturity rare for her age.

Navonil Dutta (India, 1999), with his portfolio Nature's drama, documented the cruel beauty of wild nature, focusing on the relationship between predator and prey. The sequence of a laggar falcon portrayed in action convinced the jury with its accuracy and intensity.

Exhibition at MUSEC, catalogue and next edition of the competition The winning projects are on display in the Spazio Maraini of Villa Malpensata, home of the MUSEC in Lugano from 24 October 2024 to 9 March 2025. The exhibition, curated by Alessia Borellini, presents six images from each portfolio accompanied by a description of the project and some biographical notes on the artists. The catalogue, published by FCM, presents the complete portfolio of each winner and the contributions of some of the actors of the UP project.

The exhibition promises to attract collectors and photography enthusiasts, offering a glimpse of the new trends and expressive languages of the international contemporary scene. To complement the exhibition, collateral events dedicated to photography enthusiasts will be organised.

UP25 contest will be open from 20 January to 3 March 2025. Interested photographers are invited to follow MUSEC's social channels (IG @museclugano e FB MusecLugano) for updates; as soon as the competition is online, they can apply through the form available on the Fondazione culture e musei website: www.fcmusei.ch/contest.

Jury members UP24

Marco Bischof (President)- Visual designer and Director of the Werner Bischof Estate, Zurich,
Eugenio Calini - Co-founder of 29 ARTS IN PROGRESS gallery, Milan.
Francesco Paolo Campione - Director of MUSEC-Museo delle Culture, Lugano.
Paolo Gerini - President of the Ada Ceschin and Rosanna Pilone Foundation, Zurich.
Giovanna Palandri - Chancellor of the Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti, Venice.
Tiziana Serena - Professor of History of Photography at the University of Florence.