Due to the epidemiological situation in the country and the world, this year’s Rovinj Photodays festival did not take place as planned.

Despite the changed plans, the exhibition of the finalists is available to everyone on the festival’s website, and this year’s Grand Prix has been announced!

GRAND PRIX

This year’s jury, consisting of Hrvoje Slovenc, Bruna Kazinoti, Una Popović and Sabina Salamon, awarded the Grand Prix of the festival to Patrick Bienert for the series Clothing Trade with which he won first place in the Fashion category!

Bienert, a professional photographer from Germany, also won first place in the Portrait category at this year’s festival.

The president of the jury, Hrvoje Slovenc, pointed out that Patrick Bienert’s series, “Clothing Store”, deviates from the conventions of fashion photography and adopts the conventions of social documentary photography.

“According to him, almost half of all clothes sold in Tunisia are second-hand. The lingering effect of such mass import is two-fold.  On one hand, cheap imported goods, causing a slump in domestic production, heavily affect Tunisia’s textile industry. On the other hand, the practice of recycling garments is widely considered a responsible, ecological-sound effort.  Countries encourage this trade in order to keep their own garment industries alive and thriving.  But the cycle of promoting responsible living while simultaneously supporting insatiable consumption results in a paradox, a complex relation between foreign import, local economy, and global ecology.” says Slovenc.

Winning this award means a new solo exhibition at the Rovinj Photodays 2021 festival with the accompanying publication and a cash prize from the festival in the amount of 2000 EUR!

Photos from Patrick Bienert’s Grand Prix series “Clothing Trade” can be viewed here.