Women in Photography Award
The City of Brussels in partnership with the Géopolis Center are pleased to announce the launch of the Women In Photography/Germaine Van Parys Award.
The competition is open to women photographers working in the field of documentary photography.
Foreword
Women In Photography is an award to honor female talent behind the lens.
Since its invention, photography has captured the world, society and different eras. For a long time, photography was a male-dominated world, and women's perspective and remarkable contributions were underestimated and inadequately praised. Without female representation in photography, the collective image was developed without the imprint and influence of women photographers.
In 2023, out of its commitment to raise the profile of women in various artistic disciplines, including photography, the City of Brussels decided to create the Germaine Van Parys Award. This eponymous prize pays tribute to the talent of Belgium's first female press photographer, but above all aims to continue the path she has paved by focusing on the work of women within this discipline.
So this prize is not only symbolic, but also political. It allows us to further promote equality within the cultural and artistic sector. The prize stems from a strong commitment: to encourage women to express themselves freely, to increase the visibility of women's photographic and artistic creations and to compensate for a lack of representation of a female view of the world. And since some, like Germaine Van Parys, see photography as a thought process, there is an urgent need to make women's thoughts heard.
Delphine Houba, Alderwoman for Culture, City of Brussels
Since its founding in 2017, the Géopolis center has been making important international news stories discussable by presenting the work of various photojournalists. The work of big names hangs shoulder to shoulder with the work of young talent. Over the past six years, many photographers of different nationalities have had the opportunity to enrich the center with their various commitments and sensibilities.
Géopolis thanks Delphine Houba, Alderwoman of Culture of the City of Brussels, and her team for choosing to involve the photojournalism center in the launch and organization of a prize created to support women photographers. Still less than a quarter of the members of the world's leading photo agencies are women. There is no doubt that this new prize, which bears the name of the eminent pioneer and Brussels-based photographer Germaine Van Parys, will help give visibility to young talent and work toward greater equality. Both in photography and elsewhere, an important issue.
Ulrich Huygevelde and Thomas Kox, coordinators of Géopolis
Theme
The theme Regards sur Bruxelles (Looks at Brussels) was chosen to launch the first edition of the City of Brussels’ photo competition. The theme is taken in the broadest sense of the word, leaving plenty of room for imagination. As a reminder, documentary photography is considered here as the work of a female author who shows a point of view and aims to create timeless work. Only work or projects that were produced or begun on or after January 1st 2021 are eligible.
Award procedure
Grand Prize or the Student Prize.
The winners will be selected by a jury of professionals from the world of photography.
The winners will be exhibited at the Géopolis center in Brussels.
Call for submissions
From the 14th of December 2023 until the 29th of February 2024
2
Selection of winners
March 2024
3
Award ceremony and exhibition
in the exhibition space of Géopolis (Brussels)
Spring 2024
Award
WOMEN IN PHOTOGRAPHY
GERMAINE VAN PARYS AWARD
Created by the City of Brussels in collaboration with the Géopolis Center for Photojournalism, the Germaine Van Parys Award aims to promote women's rights and freedoms by building a more inclusive, diverse and supportive society.
Based on an ever-changing theme, this award from the City of Brussels rewards women photographers whose work questions the power of the image and the role of documentation today. When we talk about the "role of documentation," we refer to work that questions what is happening or contains information useful for understanding the world, but also the image as a product of imagining and telling a story.
The lack of female perspectives perpetuates gender inequality and is a major problem in the photography industry. This award rewards the engaged visions women construct and the connections they make with their subjects and with the world around us.
The goal is to encourage women to express their vision through photography, but also to work toward greater recognition of women photographers within the profession and, more generally, to increase the visibility of women's creative work.
Germaine Van Parys
Germaine Van Parys, (birth name: Germaine Eberg), was born in Saint-Gilles on April 18th 1893. She became Belgium's first woman press photographer.
With her curious eye and determined personality, little Germaine tried out all kinds of things. Her parents decided to send her to the École des Arts et Métiers (Art School) in Brussels.
When she was old enough to get married, Germaine married press photographer Félix Van Parys and soon started practising photography herself. Her reportage on the revelry on the return of King Albert I to Brussels in 1918, opened the doors of Le Soir newspaper for her. Germaine Van Parys thus became the first woman in Belgium to acquire the status of photojournalist.
In 1929, she co-founded the 'Association générale des reporters photographes de la presse belge' (General Association of Belgian Press Photographers). She also worked with the Parisian magazine 'L'Illustration', travelled to the Belgian Congo and made a name because of her capturing news photos and her ability to capture everyday life.
During World War II, Germaine refused to work for the Germans and helped the Resistance by producing fake identity documents. In 1945, she became a war correspondent for the Allies.
As a photojournalist and independent woman, Germaine was also one of the rare businesswomen of her time. In 1956, she founded the Van Parys news agency and began working with her niece, Odette Dereze.
Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Germaine and Odette continued to document current events: the 1958 World's Fair (Expo 58), the beginning of civil aviation, sport events, royal events; as well as other news items they considered important to record the era they lived in. She also documented the upheavals in her hometown during the 1960s, leaving a considerate inheritance of the Brussels back then.
Germaine also became the ‘queen of portrait’, photographing the royal family, Winston Churchill, Josephine Baker, Albert Einstein and many other celebrities.
Prizes
Grand Prize
- A prize of 8,000 euros
- An exhibition of the winner's work in the spring of 2024
Student Prize
(or young graduates who graduated no more than two years ago)
- A prize of 2,000 euros
- An exhibition of the winner's work in the spring of 2024.
The exhibition of works by the prizewinners will take place at the Géopolis center in Brussels.
Submit
Submit my application to the Women in Photography contest
Applications are now closed