Winners XIII Contest Educating the Eye

El XIII Concurso Internacional de Fotografía Educando la Mirada da a conocer sus cinco proyectos ganadores

Platja d’Aro, September 21, 2026 – The Associació Fotogràfica Educant la Mirada, with the collaboration of the City Council of Castell d’Aro, Platja d’Aro and S’Agaró and the support of the Mercè Rodoreda Library, has made public the winners of the thirteenth edition of the Educant la Mirada International Photography Contest, which this year distributes a total of € 5,000 in prizes among the five winning projects.

The competition, which announced its ten finalist projects a few weeks ago, has closed this edition with a record participation: 262 projects, the work of 191 authors from 41 countries, who have contributed a total of 2,732 photographs. A figure that once again confirms the international vocation of the event and the diversity of views, languages and realities represented.

After the deliberation of the jury, made up of professionals from the world of photography and visual arts, the five winning projects of this edition are:

• Primer Premi — Growing Up Programmed — Valentina Acrement (França)
• Segon Premi — Children of the Weeping Steppe — Apostolos Kaloudis (Grècia)
• Third Prize — Serviam — Tony Tirado (Spain)
• Premi Jove — Sudan War, a Nation Trapped — Abdulmonam Eassa (França)
• Premi Local — Un espai compartit — Lourdes Torres Montoliu (Spain)

The winning projects

Growing Up Programmed, by French photographer Valentina Acrement, portrays teenagers suspended between vulnerability and increasingly systematised expectations. The series examines how medication, digital immersion, and consumption quietly shape young people’s inner worlds, and questions whether freedom is still possible within systems that promise protection while defining behavior.

Children of the Weeping Steppe, by the Greek Apostolos Kaloudis, is a long-running project about the Kazakh eagle hunters of Western Mongolia. The work examines the resilience of a community marked by displacement and cultural loss, portraying hunters as living custodians of one of the oldest Turkic traditions.

Serviam, by Tony Tirado, takes its name from the coat of arms of the institute where the author did his military service in 1979-80. The project evokes the loss of identity of a generation of young Spaniards called up to the military, combining hand-painted photographs of the barracks with portraits of soldiers covering their faces with military elements.

Photojournalist Abdulmonam Eassa’s Sudan War, a Nation Trapped, documents a country caught between hope and war. Since the military coup in 2021 and the outbreak of armed conflict in 2023, the project portrays a devastating humanitarian crisis, with millions of people displaced and cities razed.

An espai compartit, by local photographer Lourdes Torres Montoliu, who lives in Castell d’Aro, Platja d’Aro and S’Agaró, shows the coexistence between people and animals on the Colombian Pacific coast, conditioned by the rhythm of the tides. An everyday look at natural coexistence and constant adaptation to a changing environment.

Thank you to the finalists

The organization would like to express its sincere gratitude to the other five finalist projects of this edition, whose quality has also contributed to enriching the contest:

• Drought — Javier Arcenillas (Spain)
• The Forgotten Lessons — Miguel Gómez Muñiz (Spain)
• The Cathedrals of Nostalgia — Rodrigo Illescas (Argentina)
• We Get Repeated — Sara Sasani (Iran)
• Korida — Sergi Grau (Spain)

Outdoor Exposure

From 1 October to 1 November, the ten finalist projects of this edition can be visited in an open-air exhibition in the Jardins de la Masia Bas, open to all audiences.

From the Associació Fotogràfica Educant la Mirada we want to reiterate our most sincere gratitude to all the authors participating in this thirteenth edition. Each proposal presented has contributed to reaffirming photography as a tool for reflection, awareness and understanding of the contemporary world.