With great pride and anticipation, we announce the finalists of the Sarajevo Photography Festival 2025, outstanding works selected from each of our nine competition categories.This year’s open call attracted an exceptional volume and quality of submissions from 66 countries! The range of themes, techniques, and perspectives confirms photography’s enduring relevance as both an artistic practice and a form of critical engagement with the world around us.
Yes, these images serve as visual records, but they are also questions, provocations, and reflections.
This year’s jury Alessia Glaviano, Marina Paulenka, Irfan Hošić, and Kiana Hayeri – faced the challenging task of evaluating a diverse body of work, spanning everything from alternative processes and mobile photography to conceptual series and documentary realism.The selected finalists represent the most compelling examples of contemporary photographic expression submitted this year.
Here is a list of the finalists of the Sarajevo Photography Festival 2025:
Marijn Fidder, Dileep SS, Ernesto Sumarkho, Anton Azev, Armin Graca, Matteo Trevisan, Caroline Gutman, AndreJa Ravnak, Hasan Merdic, Sara Nicomedi, saurabh narang, Armin Durgut, Mariam Magsi, Chloé Kaufmann, Cristina Fontsare, Uschi Groos, Eddy Verloes, Debmalya Ray Choudhuri, Isabelle Hayeur, Ieva Gaile, Mario Heller, Matic Zorman, Pierre & Florent, Jeremy Chih-Hao Chuang, Robin Tutenges, Zifan Zhang, Eleonora Lele Bonizzi, Blaž Gutman, Enamul Kabir, Ira & John, Nik Erik Neubauer, Pasha Kritchko, Belmin Islam, Maria Di Stefano, Yasser Alaa Mobarak, Samik Mondal, Mauro Scarfone, Dmitry Ersler, Yanyan Zhao, Gurudas Bate, Simon Chang, Mitar Simikić, Carola Cappellari, Aleksandra Zivanovic, Giuseppe Cardoni, Milica Mrvić, Katarina Kolenc, Andrej Verzola, Katerina Kouzmitcheva, Domagoj Burilović, Ivan Buvinić, Petra Berčan, Metin Aktaş, Carlos Folgoso.
The Grand Prix winner will receive a cash prize of €2,000, while the winners of each category will be awarded prizes sponsored by Canon, along with the prestigious festival statuette. The total prize fund for the festival amounts to €8,000.
The names of the category winners and the recipient of the Grand Prix will be revealed at the official awards ceremony that will take place at the National Theatre Sarajevo on Thursday, June 12th, from 18:00 to 19:30.
The finalist exhibition will be unveiled at the National Gallery of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo on June 12th at 20:00.
Please note: the opening night at the National Theatre is a closed event, by invitation only, while the exhibition will be open to the public.