Times under pressure - competition "category single picture"

From 12 September 12th until 25 October in the old town of Lenzburg.
We are very pleased to announce the winning pictures of the photo competition "Single pictures".
We would like to thank all photographers who took part in the competition. The complex theme, which falls at a special historical moment, was realised in an extremely varied and creative way. The many pictures received from all over the world tell of a wide variety of aspects: personal upheavals, concern for nature, feelings of insecurity, but also the desire to devote oneself to beauty and to observe beauty in order to escape the pressure of times.
The selection of the pictures was made by the jury on the basis of such criteria as the direct and the representation of the subject matter in a single picture, as well as the need to convey complementary points of view of the participants.
Special thanks to the festival's jury, who judged each picture received with passion: Margherita Guerra, Director Fotofestival Lenzburg; Kathryn Cook-Pellegrin, Head of Creative Content - International Committee of the Red Cross; Gilles Steinmann, Director of Photography NZZ; Audrey Hoareau, Curator of Photo Basel 2020, independent curator; Guido Schmidtke, Picture Editor STERN.

 

The pictures are on display in numerous shop windows in Lenzburg's old town until the 25th October 2020.
Until the 6th of October the public will vote for their favourite pictures. The winner will receive a prize of CHF 1,000, generously donated by SWL Energie AG. Many thanks.

Please refer to the information on the respective picture caption or choose your favourite photo now and send an SMS to the number 9234 with the code SM827 plus the number of your favourite picture (e.g. SM827 16). You can vote until the 6th October 2020.

Our thanks go to all the shops that have participated in the initiative and worked together to turn the old town centre into an outdoor photo gallery.

The winning pictures in the category single pictures of the photo competition "Times under pressure" can be found in the shop windows of the addresses listed here:

  • am-architektur | Aavorstadt 1 | Grabenweg 2
  • artcibar GmbH | Rathausgasse 5
  • Audika AG | Torgasse 6
  • Augentreff Schneider | Kirchgasse 10
  • Bäckerei Konditorei Haller | Avorstadt 22
  • Blumen Impressionen | Rathausgasse 17
  • Boutique Unikum | Kirchgasse 13
  • Buchhandlung Otz | Kirchgasse 23
  • Büro Ryser AG | Rathausgasse 24
  • Coiffeur LifeStyle | Aavorstadt 15
  • Die kleine Tätowierstube | Leuengasse 16
  • Don Camillo Kaffeebrennerei & Bar | Rathausgasse 17
  • feinesKleines | Rathausgasse 18 5600
  • fräulein rosarot - Echte Schweizer Handarbeit | Rathausgasse 30
  • Hömlilade | Rathausgasse 15
  • Hosechnopf | Rathausgasse 37
  • It's Teatime | Kirchgasse 21
  • Jori Silber & Stein | Rathausgasse 21
  • Kleidergalerie Lenzburg | Leuengasse 12
  • Kreativ Biene GmbH | Hintere Kirchgasse 2
  • Linea Alessandro | Poststrasse 4
  • Merk Optik | Aavorstadt 6
  • ORB-IT | Rathausgasse 27
  • Rathausgasse 25
  • Restaurant Hirschen | Rathausgasse 41
  • rundumFinanz | Aavorstadt 13
  • SENDYBEL Coiffeur & Nailkosmetik | Kirchgasse 10
  • Souhail | Kirchgasse 24
  • Sue‘s Kitchen | Eisengasse 37
  • Toppharm Löwen Apotheke | Rathausgasse 36
  • TopPharm Römer Apotheke | Aavorstadt 8
  • Torffaser Atelier | Kirchgasse 25
  • Trotter Optik | Poststrasse 6
  • Unplugged Gitarren & Service | Kirchgasse 27
  • Vitrine | Rathausgasse 31
  • WerkRaum 21 | Rathausgasse 21
  • Wohnatelier Meier | Aavorstadt 4
  • YAMYAM Sandwich & Smoothie-Bar | Aavorstadt 9
1. Faith - Mieke Douglas - What is it about the relationship between humans and horses that is so enduring? This teenage boy and gentle giant are so utterly at ease with with each other. The image tells a story of a shared connection, almost like a dream. In these times of increasing pressure and anxiety we need to reconnect with the natural world to find our inner peace and calm.

1. Faith - Mieke Douglas

2. Flow - Nuno Serrão

2. Flow - Nuno Serrão

3. Be My Lil Baby! - Hamzeh Zahran

3. Be My Lil Baby! - Hamzeh Zahran

4. Self Care - Emma Bäcklund - " ""Self Care"" focus on the individual well being rather than the group. As a consequence of industrialism and the individual society, the focus on the ‘self’ and personal struggle is at its highest point. The priority no longer seem to be on the freedom of people, but a freedom within oneself. Yoga, therapy and all sorts of well being remedies occupy consumerist marketing and it appears to function as a loop. While one is working on ones self-care, one is fed further more advertising reminding us what we do is it not enough, that we are not enough. Consumerism survives as a result of our self doubt, fear and anxieties. What is the foot doing and who does it belong to? Is it here to cure or repress? "

4. Self Care - Emma Bäcklund

5. Communication - Hans Schlimbach

5. Communication - Hans Schlimbach

6. Concrete - Marina Conte - nature is going to disappear bacause of constant construction . concrete abstract square as a symbol of overbuilding

6. Concrete - Marina Conte

7. Postpunctum_piasecka_5 - Aga Piasecka - " Project “Post -punctum” was inspired by 19th century post-mortem photography. I used ambrotype method to document the journey which body has to complete from the moment of death till the burial. My work is meant to question the way how the death of an individual person is depicted in contemporary visual culture. It is considered a taboo, although media bombards us with images of violent mass deaths. Photographs were taken in a funeral home in the north of Poland. To preserve anonymity of the photographed bodies and their surroundings I have chosen to use close-up to frame my images. I believe it gives more universal and ordinary outlook. Using an archaic photographic method enables me to dissolve the boundries between time, space, past, present, history and reality - I mean to achieve certain timelessness. The title of the series is derived from the Roland Barthes’ essay Camera Lucida in which the author coins the term of punctum."

7. Postpunctum_piasecka_5 - Aga Piasecka

8. A whiter shade - Felicitas von Lutzau - In der Serie „a whiter shade“ untersuche ich das Verhalten von Licht auf einer geschlossenen Schneedecke. Die Sterne dokumentieren in einer Zeitzeichnung das ungeduldige Warten auf die Begegnungen. Extraterrestrische Kontakte tauchen in den teils impressionistischen Fotografien auf und neben monumentalen Motiven werden auch feinfühlige Momente der Isolation dokumentiert. Dabei fördert die Abwesenheit von natürlichem Licht, die den fotografischen Vorgang eigentlich eher sabotiert, die Wirkung des künstlichen Lichts enorm. Ein rotes Warnlicht an einem einsam, in der Nacht stehenden Kran, verwandelt die Schneekristalldecke in ein Lavameer. Diese Lichteingriffe führen zu unterschiedlichen Momentaufnahmen, alle eingehend auf die Einsamkeit in dieser Landschaft, die nur vereinzelt durch Spuren im Schnee durchzogen wird. Die Romantik der malerischen Motive steht dabei der fotografischen Technik gegenüber, durch die die Bilder entstanden sind.

8. A whiter shade - Felicitas von Lutzau

9. Lenzburg2020_Stress_4x5in - Rene Aeberhard

9. Lenzburg2020_Stress_4x5in - Rene Aeberhard

10. Statue of liberty - Paolo Testa - i was bringing my parents to see the statue of liberty, as soon as the boat approached it everyone stood up, took their phone and started shooting. what it means to experience life trough a screen and how are we creating memories of our life?

10. Statue of liberty - Paolo Testa

11. Social media - David Avazzadeh

11. Social media - David Avazzadeh

12. Reenactment of the refugee arrival - Samet Durgun - A scene from a video shooting for the anniversary of “House of Oriental” where queer refugees are reenacting their arrival to Germany. While some arrived with a plane, others came on foot and boats during the Syrian refugee movements a few years ago.

12. Reenactment of the refugee arrival - Samet Durgun

13. Madre E Figlia - Steven Nestor - "A mother and daughter enjoying personal time out together, away from the crowded beach. Sardegna, 2018. I took this image while waiting for friends to follow me home. The heatwave was suffocating and the beach crowded, but in the fresher waters of a river below me I watched a mother and daughter enjoying their time together in silence. It was as though no other time pressures or constraints could hope to interrupt their time. My friends arrived and I merged with them. It was we who were time conscious, too aware of the day's prearranged necessities.

13. Madre E Figlia - Steven Nestor

14. One way traffic - Rita Stricker Vogel

14. One way traffic - Rita Stricker Vogel

15. Self-portrait of a not so young artist in times of crisis. - João Miguel Barros - "Wuhan's coronavirus has infected thousands and killed hundreds of people, creating fear and panic in China and a strong social and scientific alarm worldwide. Public health problems, such as epidemics, with increasingly resistant viruses, are a civilizational threat. Maybe bigger than wars!... This image is the testimony of the artist, no longer so young, facing the installed crisis in the Chinese city of Macau."

15. Self-portrait of a not so young artist in times of crisis. - João Miguel Barros

16. Sprungbrett ins Ungewisse - Daniela Wildi Hochholdinger

16. Sprungbrett ins Ungewisse - Daniela Wildi Hochholdinger

17. Back And Forth - Wildalps

17. Back And Forth - Wildalps

18. The sufferings of young men - Kostas Maros

18. The sufferings of young men - Kostas Maros

19. Retreat - Lea Meienberg - "Nature has always been a place to retreat, physically and mentally. When we look at photographs of nature today, the effect of freedom and idyll is clouded by a sense of discomfort. The modern world has turned things upside down, we‘ve come to a point where nature is retreating from us. What will be left once the ice has melted? "

19. Retreat - Lea Meienberg

20. 1 - Kristina Rozhkova

20. 1 - Kristina Rozhkova

21. Social Media - Manuel Auf der Maur

21. Social Media - Manuel Auf der Maur

22. Garcia_D_Swarm - Donna Garcia - " Swarm, 2017. Archival Pigment Print. Swarm is a still photograph from my short film, Free Fall, which is about the week that my mother died and reflects my the moment when I held the box of my mother’s ashes, in my hands, for the first time. Even though the ashes were somewhat contained, I felt like they were surrounding me - swarming me like an overwhelming hive of bees – every moment stinging. It was a defining moment for me as I realized that I was truly alone for the first time. It also made me acutely aware of the fragility of life. In the end we аre returned to dust and ash, and while this is sad in some ways, there is something very liberating about how this reality frees us as humans – it becomes the ultimate equalizer. No one is better and no one is less, in the end we аre all the same - dust and ash. So while I have many memories of my mother, this was our last and one of the greatest lessons she would teach me. "

22. Garcia_D_Swarm - Donna Garcia

23. panta rei-1 - Radoslaw Celewicz - "Der Donaukanal ist ein beliebtes Freizeitareal und ein Erholungsraum in der Innenstadt Wiens. Bei einem Spaziergang ist mir der niedrige Wasserstand am Anfang des neuen Jahres aufgefallen. Das seichte Wasser brachte auch eine andere Entdeckung zutage: Die auffallend vielen Einkaufswägen, Fahrräder und E-Scooter die am Flussboden lagen. Es scheint, dass hier zwei Welten aufeinanderprallen: Die Welt des Flusses und die Welt der Menschen. Der Fluss scheint, sich Zeit zu nehmen, um mit den sonderbarsten Artefakten fertig zu werden. Wie gingen Menschen, die diese Gegenstände in den Fluss warfen, mit ihrer Zeit um? Panta rei. Wirklich? "

23. panta rei-1 - Radoslaw Celewicz

24. Hair (a) - Tommaso Sacconi - "Hair (a) Getting grey. Collection of hair from different cuts Rome / Cairo / New York 2013 - 2017 35mm Color reversal film "

24. Hair (a) - Tommaso Sacconi

25. Meltdown - Austin Miller

25. Meltdown - Austin Miller

26. The Golden Ladder - Kata Geibl -From the series There is Nothing New under the Sun

26. The Golden Ladder - Kata Geibl

27. Menschen wie du und ich - Schmid und Bühler - Wir leben in einer Zeit, in der die Flut an Informationen rasant vorbei strömt. Innerhalb weniger Minuten gehen Neuigkeiten gleichen Inhalts um die Welt. Wir sehen, hören, lesen und glauben. Meinungen verbreiten sich, Bilder im Kopf entfalten sich. Wahrheiten entstehen. Zeit zur Reflektion haben wir kaum. Manipuliert durch einseitige oder fehlerhafte Informationen werten wir und bilden Urteile, die nicht auf eigener Erfahrung beruhen. Wir nehmen auf, was wir sehen und hören wollen und blenden aus, was uns nicht gefällt. Bewusst oder unbewusst. Wir charakterisieren Menschen und werten die Lebensart und das Auftreten des Gegenübers, ohne die Person zu kennen. Doch wieso hören wir uns die Geschichten unserer Mitmenschen nicht an? Wieso nehmen wir uns nicht die Zeit, einander besser zu verstehen? Indem wir genau hinhören, erfahren wir, was immer wieder vergessen geht: So einzigartig wir mit unseren Biografien sind, so wenig stehen wir alleine mit ihnen da. «Menschen wie du und ich» ist ein Projekt über Menschen und ihre prägendsten Ereignisse im Leben. Die Emotion ihrer Erinnerung ist in Bildern ehrlich und intim festgehalten. Schwarzweiss-Porträts bewusst vor neutralem Hintergrund – keine Umgebung, die ablenken oder Assoziationen auslösen könnte. Einzig und allein liegt der Fokus auf dem Ausdruck der Personen und deren Geschichten. Geschichten, die unterschiedlicher nicht sein könnten und dennoch im Grundsatz miteinander verbunden sind: Im Wunsch nach Zufriedenheit und Glück. Ein Projekt, das Stereotype hinterfragt und zugleich Hoffnung, Mut und Inspiration schenken soll.

27. Menschen wie du und ich - Schmid und Bühler

28. ORANGE TURKEY - Martin Stellnberger - No view for beautiful moments, we rush every evening through the offers of the city

28. ORANGE TURKEY - Martin Stellnberger

29. Baleares_Dubuisson_01 - Emile Hyperion Dubuisson

29. Baleares_Dubuisson_01 - Emile Hyperion Dubuisson

30. untitled #4 - Björn Nilsson - "As the society spinns ever faster, its gets harder and harder to maintain what was before an easy task. Movement. The working class nedd to get up or got to bed ever so much more. Official get stuck behind screens all day. Food is getting processed more and more. Its hard to keep up, this image illustrated the decay of the flesh in an ever faster moving world. The body has become a marker. The ones that can uphold a healthy lifestyle with food and exercise is looked upon in a much more positive way than people for different reasons cant upohold that. We consume food in a much faster pace. Every intake is suppose to be a fast intake, microfood, fastfood. We rearly have time to sit down and eat as we were supoosed to. That in itself pose a threat to our body, as well as the stress it causes us. "

30. untitled #4 - Björn Nilsson

31. Food doping - Theresa Nairz - Chemicals delay the expiry date. Curse or blessing?

31. Food doping - Theresa Nairz

32. Relaxation at the Dead Sea Tree - David Sharabani - "We live in an era of acceleration. Abnormally high adrenaline levels and attention deficit disorders are all too common. We dream of a utopian lifestyle, but end up in the hold of its illusive shadow. Our lofty ambitions lead us to anxiety and depression. We mostly function as wounded zombies. Our upright corpses spend most of the day desperately seeking pain relief. Seduced and exploited by marketing, we find solace in drinking, smoking and overly engaging in social media. A new rhythm, a personal space to reduce psychological diseases, needs to be established. One such place where time stands still is the Dead Sea, a salt lake once cherished by Cleopatra. 430 meters below sea level, it is noted for its healing virtues. Surrounded by the silence of desert, it is a prime place to decelerate. It is time to slow down, appreciate and preserve our natural treasures. It is in these pockets of paradise, far from daily temptations, that we can disconnect and breathe. "

32. Relaxation at the Dead Sea Tree - David Sharabani

33. Britney Sheet - Maria Ansell - The hen is used as a symbol for fertility and reproduction in many different cultures and communities, this image came to fruition whilst I was exploring narratives surrounding matriarchal figures in my life. Britney was rescued from a local egg laying farm when she was a year and a half old and her productivity began to slow down. Even though Britney came from a free range farm with access to acres of land and a constant supply of food and fresh water, feather pecking can still occur when the birds become stressed or are at the bottom of the food chain. The sight of her unfeathered body and protruding crop is unsettling especially if you aren't familiar with the biology of poultry. Her body emulating a carcass, she is presented as a platter on a pedestal and juxtaposed against an unfamiliar environment, becoming more alien and displaced. People find the personalisation of a food source disconcerting and I intentionally play in to this by naming the chicken, giving her an identity.

33. Britney Sheet - Maria Ansell

34. Nostalgia - Lorenz Weber - Ein Blick der sich weniger mit alltäglichen Dingen beschäftigt, sondern in der Kunst der Welt

34. Nostalgia - Lorenz Weber

35. The Station Waiting - Derek Brown

35. The Station Waiting - Derek Brown

36. Anthropocene habitat III - Troels Bjerre

36. Anthropocene habitat III - Troels Bjerre

37. Ski Slope - Fabian Schroder

37. Ski Slope - Fabian Schroder

38. Hold on - Barbara Bissig - Island of time

38. Hold on - Barbara Bissig

39. DSCF2423 - Marco di Noia - Island of time

39. DSCF2423 - Marco di Noia

40. Angry Young Man - Walerija Weiser - The angry young man is a Syrian refugee who has fled from war and destruction into a seemingly hopeful new life and has to experience how few real opportunities are available to him, while prejudice, fear and contempt are daily confronting him from some strata of German society. His way into social offside seems inevitable. Nevertheless, he retains his hope, his youthful willingness to perform and the fascination that the metropolis of Berlin exerts on him.

40. Angry Young Man - Walerija Weiser

41. Barcodes - Matteo Fieni - Barcodes This project aims to question the relationship between the symbolic coding of the barcode and the construction of the photographic image from the notions of optical and technological unconscious developed by Walter Benjamin and Franco Vaccari. In “Barcodes" the photographic image of the world is structured with the same paratactic construction of the linear parallelism that characterizes the barcode: a system of universal identification that allows and regulates the goods in a industrialized and mondialize scenario, where both acceleration and pressure of time fits aesthetically and conceptually.

41. Barcodes - Matteo Fieni

42. The Floor - Elisa Florian

42. The Floor - Elisa Florian

43. Hole Punch Cloud - Indra Joshi - An atmospheric phenomenon which is created by air pressure and time

43. Hole Punch Cloud - Indra Joshi

44. Our last days on Earth - Kimbra Audrey - Self-Portrait

44. Our last days on Earth - Kimbra Audrey

45. Partenze - René Schädler - Als Erinnerung an die langsame Zeit, steht eine wunderschöne analoge Zeitentafel für die ehemaligen Regionalzüge im Bahnhof in Florenz. Wie schön war es damals, als die "Langsamzüge* einem die Landschaft noch ins Abteil lenkte. Inzwischen wurden die Fenster durch die Smartphonedisplays ausgetauscht.

45. Partenze - René Schädler - Als Erinnerung an die langsame Zeit steht eine wunderschöne analoge Zeitentafel für die ehemaligen Regionalzüge im Bahnhof in Florenz. Wie schön war es damals, als die "Langsamzüge“ einem die Landschaft noch ins Abteil lenkten. Inzwischen wurden die Fenster durch die Smartphonedisplays ausgetauscht.

46. Anonym in Tokyo - Mario Messer

46. Anonym in Tokyo - Mario Messer

47. Absent Reflections - Eliza Bourner - 'Absent Reflections' explores universal loneliness despite the connectedness of contemporary society. Our deep desire for community and connectivity is exploited by technologies which, creating an addictive yet illusory sense of connection, leave us unsatisfied and craving more. Creating a world suspended between reality and fiction, Bourner responds to the relentless ideals of perfection and positivity that today’s society and technologies encourage, leading to anxiety and exhaustion in the postmodern individual.

47. Absent Reflections - Eliza Bourner

48. Ciara-AngelaEngelhardt_ZeitenUnterDruck_2 - Ciara-Angela Engelhardt

48. Ciara-AngelaEngelhardt_ZeitenUnterDruck_2 - Ciara-Angela Engelhardt

49. I need air - Γιάννης Τρυφωνόπουλος

49. I need air - Γιάννης Τρυφωνόπουλος

50. With Prospect and With Frost (Life's a Beach), New House - Katherine March Driscoll

50. With Prospect and With Frost (Life's a Beach), New House - Katherine March Driscoll

51. National Anthem III - Kevin Mallan - ‘National Anthem’ triptych. The camera shifts perspective onto Tigné Point and Sliema in the opposite direction of the iconic Valletta landscape that is used in multiple property and touristic advertisements. Portrait compositions stand in opposition. The Maltese national anthem, a protest song and sound pertaining to construction areas from the subjected view are merged into the photograph’s raw data, which is then destructed in an audio editing software. A new image emerges out of an unauthoritative destructive data alteration method. Results can be seen abstracted and equivocal, tying in to the volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous notions imbued within current and futuristic discourse relating the causes of neoliberalism.

51. National Anthem III - Kevin Mallan

52. Breath - Tommaso Moni - Feeling under pressure causes symptoms such as weakness of heart, fear of not having more time, as in this case: a 95-year-old lady who feels breathless, is afraid of no longer having time to live. this is the feeling of anxiety and under pressure that she feels.

52. Breath - Tommaso Moni

53. The ocean is on fire - Meredith Andrews - Lighters collected on the shores and beaches of Bermuda over a one year period.

53. The ocean is on fire - Meredith Andrews

54. Climate Migrants 01 - Abir Abdullah - Puspa Rani Roy stands at the edge of her eroded land before shifted to a new land. She lived here for fifteen years with her husband, two children and mother-in-law. ' This is our own land and it will go to the river by tomorrow. I could remember many memories with my family members here. It is such a pain that we never get back this land and surely become landless like refugee.'

54. Climate Migrants 01 - Abir Abdullah

55. Still chance to survive? - Tomas Rodak - Gorilla in the local ZOO...

55. Still chance to survive? - Tomas Rodak

56. Scene of silence I - Jakub Pasierkiewicz

56. Scene of silence I - Jakub Pasierkiewicz

57. Shift - Ragna Arndt-Marić - The series “Control” is dealing with the topic “human” versus “machine”. Due to the daily use of shortcuts the idea was to put their meaning in a new context. In general, human inventions imitate nature. Why not trying to recollect these technical terms to their natural origin? Therefore, in a biological sense, “control” means “brain”, “return” “remind”, “delete” “forget” and “shift” describes the switch in neuronal synapses of the brain.

57. Shift - Ragna Arndt-Marić

58. Two Suitcases - Heidi Kirjavainen

58. Two Suitcases - Heidi Kirjavainen