On September 25 Den celebrated its 13th birthday anniversary. Jointly with our contributors, colleagues and partners, we opened the traditional exhibit of the best works of Den-2009, the 11th international photo competition, at the Ukrainian House. The award-winning ceremony heard the announcement of this year’s winner of the Golden Day, the Ukrainian “photo Oscar” in journalism. Although there is a large number of other prizes and grands prix from our partners and the audience award, the Golden Day is the most important one, even though it was only instituted last year. The purpose of the Golden Day, our editorial board’s prize, is not just to mark a good picture.
The Golden Day is aimed at arousing the feeling of sympathy and social justice. In plain terms, the heroes of the photo that has won this prize will receive assistance from the editorial board and our partners. What is more, they will receive the care and attention of our entire readership. Last year the Golden Day was awarded to Ihor Dobrovolsky for his photo “The Flood Claimed Three Children.” We later met the woman in the photo and her family. In spite of an unprecedented tragedy, the family lives on and raises two children. We sincerely believe that they feel our support.
In reality, selecting the best photos is not a simple task. This time the jury examined 1,637 works from 171 photographers. On the whole, Den has discovered dozens of photography talents in the 11 years of this photo competition. The people who once won the photo contest, such as Mykola Lazarenko, Borys Korpusenko, Mykhailo Markiv, Oleksandr Synytsia, and Vladyslav Musienko, are now well-known photography masters.
Yet the main value of the annual Den photo exhibit, which consists of the competition’s best works, is not even in spotting new talents. The photos presented to readers’ judgment show Ukraine itself—not the one we see daily on TV screens but the true one: wise, ironical, weary, shrewd, and exalted. In the eleven years that our photo exhibits have been touring big and small cities, the Den editorial board has come to the conclusion that this country wants to see a different kind of itself. Den and the photo contest participants are offering the country this opportunity.
The Photo Exhibit 2009 will remain open at the Ukrainian House until October 2. Then it will tour Ukraine’s exhibition halls like a “gallery on wheels,” and our readers will be able to see photos on Den’s pages. And wherever you meet our alternative to television, as the Den Photo Exhibit is also called,—in Kyiv, Lviv, Kamianets-Podilsky, Kharkiv, Chechelnyk, Odesa, or Ostroh—admission is always free. So we are looking forward to seeing you!
