UNity photo, art winners announced

The European Union (EU) Delegation to Trinidad and Tobago, in collaboration with the Photographers Guild of TT, announced the winners of its UNity Photo and Art Competition on February 25.

The winners of the third annual competition were James Solomon in the photo/professional category; Azriel Bahadoor in the photo/amateur/adult category; Micah James in the photo/ under 18 category; Sabrina Charran in the art/professional/adult category; Ariel Harrichan in the art/amateur/adult category; Chriselle Benjamin in the art/under 18 category; and Ariel Mangroo in the art/under 12 category.

Acting head of delegation Sanjin Soldatic said the delegation was impressed by the quality of entries.

Soldatic said the competition was just one of the cultural initiatives the EU Delegation to TT was involved in on an annual basis. Another is the European Film Festival.

He added that this was the competition’s third year and each year it gets better and more competitive. Soldatic said when it started in 2018 it was a photos-only competition, but in 2019 the art component was added.

This was the delegation's second year working with the Photographers’ Guild.

He said the use of photos and arts in the competition was all about culture.

“Culture is a way to share ideas. To dialogue with each other and to gain a better understanding of who we are and how we can grow together.”

He said this is why the EU places cultural co-operation at the heart of its relations with its partners around the world and why it is important to host competitions like these.

President of the Photographerss Guild Antony Scully said this year’s competition was based on some important and timely themes and this proved to the judging panel that much thought and creativity was inspired by the topics.

He said entries came from a wide range of ages, skills and different levels of proficiency in a variety of media. There were photography and paintings, as was expected, but also digital art, street art and sculpture.

The competition brought out some outstanding work, Scully said.

The competition was open to TT citizens of all ages and included both amateur and professional categories. There were over $10,000 in prizes and all finalists’ entries were part of a virtual exhibition.

View the exhibition at https://europa.eu/!uY44Tt.