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PhotoSlam: The event with lots of photos and little slam

26.11.2019

Translation: machine translated

The PhotoSlam is a mixture of photo competition and poetry slam. An exciting idea. The evening was entertaining, but ultimately almost everything revolved around photography, the slam part remained modest.

"I hope I win something else," says competition participant Dominic Wenger. He has just bagged the audience prize at PhotoSlam Zurich 2019. He plans to use the thousand francs for a bed frame or to pay back his tuition fees. Not enough for either.

It is the final phase of an event lasting over three hours, during which the ten finalists are allowed to present, explain or promote their photo. A kind of mixture of photo competition and poetry slam, although the poetry is not seen so strictly. In principle, anything is allowed as long as it doesn't last longer than two minutes and is somehow related to the picture.

Antonio Idone explains his picture by pretending to tell his granddaughter a bedtime story on the phone. Caroline Fink chooses the poem form. She presents her extremely calm and reduced image as a counterweight to the constant hectic pace and sensory overload. Even as a rebellion; because only those who come to rest can reflect and realise what is wrong. Matt Jeker, Samuel Betschart and Simeon Wälti build their presentation around a self-produced video clip. Some participants show other images from the same series or a similar project. Sara Hussong accompanies her presentation with piano music. So plenty of variety.

Overall, the presentations are not at the same high level as the pictures. No wonder, after all, the candidates were nominated because of their photos and not because they are particularly good presenters. The jury selected them in advance from numerous submissions. They knew nothing about the background of the images or their creators.

Dominic is 22, the father of a 4-year-old child and a war photographer. During the interview on stage and his subsequent two-minute show, he comes across as rather wooden, letting his pictures do most of the talking. Gian Paul Lozza from the jury comments on this: "For a war photographer, the presentation was great, they're all totally taciturn." Finalist Matt Jeker talks even less, almost driving presenter Patrick Rohr mad: "Can you please say more than yes or no? I was hoping to elicit a whole sentence from you with this question ..."

Before the event, I asked the three jury members Gian Paul Lozza, Tina Sturzenegger and Johannes Diboky whether they thought a picture needed to be explained or whether it should speak for itself. I've asked myself the same question, especially at art exhibitions. And here in particular, because the explanation is part of the evaluation. All three are clearly of the opinion that a photo should speak for itself. However, Gian Paul Lozza points out that it can change the way you look at it if you have knowledge about the picture or the photographer's biography. This happens to him several times during the evening. In the case of Antonio Idone and Cyril Truninger, he explains that the image has gained in value for him through the personal background. But the reverse also happens. Samuel Betschart entered the final with a mysterious, ghostly image of a lift. His video clip, in which he himself can be seen with photographic equipment, but which is also intended as a kind of horror homage, demystifies the mysterious nature of his picture. All three jury members are visibly disappointed.

In the end, however, the jury chooses the winners that evening primarily on the basis of the images rather than the presentation. This seems quite obvious to me and also logical: the images are the core area of expertise of the jury members, all three are professional photographers. Naturally, they must also be familiar with presentation. Tina Sturzenegger says that presentation accounts for about 40 per cent of the sales. Nevertheless, a suggestion to organiser Light + Byte: I would also try to get a jury member from the field of poetry slam or multimedia presentation to join the cause.

The jury members do a good job. They say clearly when they don't like something. In this way, they form a necessary counterpart to the presenter, who always thinks everything is great and seems to see it as his job to make the participants feel good. The judges always remain fair and friendly in their criticism. No one is made a slug in the style of Dieter Bohlen.

Here are the winners at last

The evening drags on even longer than this text before we finally find out who has won. But now the time has come
.
Third place: Cyril Truninger, who says the SVP's black sheep posters have affected him personally.

Simeon Wälti, who plays in a band, came in second place.

First place: Dominic Wenger, who photographed a child through a front door while travelling in Romania. He only had two attempts before the child noticed him.

Dominic's wish for another win is coming true. When asked about it, he says: "That must have sounded a bit arrogant, I'm not usually like that," and I take it from him. Had he prepared an acceptance speech? Yes, he had, but it was quite short:

"Thank you."

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David Lee

Senior Editor

David.Lee@digitecgalaxus.ch

My interest in IT and writing landed me in tech journalism early on (2000). I want to know how we can use technology without being used. Outside of the office, I’m a keen musician who makes up for lacking talent with excessive enthusiasm.

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