Foam Paul Huf Award 2023: the winner is Felipe Romero Beltrán (CO)

Nominated by Maria Ptqk, independent curator and cultural researcher, and Jokin Aspuru and Lucia Janto, Getxophoto Festival founders and directors, Felipe Romero Beltràn is the fist South American to win this Award. 

The photographer portayed the young illegal migrants in Seville, who crossed the sea from Morocco and are now waiting for a settlement on the migratory status. Their experiences are framed in a dramatic, almost cinematic, series of photographs, where bodies form a cohesive narration with their memories, resulting in a powerful unveiling of social inequity.

Beltràn studied Photography in Buenos Aires and obtained a MFA degree in Madrid, Spain. He is now concluding the Phd in documentary photography. The Colombian artist has been awarded also in many other competitions: Aperture Portfolio Prize (2022 -USA), Die Biennale fur Aktuelle Fotografie (2022-DE), Joop Swart Masterclass (2020-NL), GetxoPhoto Award (2020), Photobook Madrid Prize (2020-SP), LumixFestival (2020-DE), New York Times Portfolio Review (2019-USA), Photoespaña HACER (2019-SP), Tabacalera Cantera (2019-SP) and ARTBO Colombia (2019-COL).

This edition saw in the jury Anna-Kaisa Rastenberger (director of the Finnish Museum of Photography and  founder and artistic director of The Festival of Political Photography), John Fleetwood (curator, co-head of BA Photography at the KABK and director of Photo: in South Africa), Sunil Gupta (artist and co-founder of the Autograph Association), Ashleigh Kane (Arts & Photography Editor at Dazed Magazine), João Linneu (designer, art director and co-founder of Void Photo Publishing House).

The prize consists of €20,000 and a solo exhibition at Foam.

Shortlist nominees and nominators

Farah Al Qasimi – nominated by Kathrin Schönegg (Co-head of program/curator of Photography at C/O Berlin), Myriam Boulos – nominated by Zied Ben Romdhane (Magnum Nominee), Lisa Bukreyeva – nominated by Kateryna Radchenko (Ukrainian curator and director of Odessa Photo Days Festival), Federico Clavarino – nominated by Tommaso Parrillo (founder of Witty Books publisher), Anna Ehrenstein – nominated by Barbara Gregov (writer, researcher and curator for the Organ Vida Festival), Odette England – nominated by Daniel Boetker-Smith (Director at the Centre for Contemporary Photography in Melbourne and director Asia-Pacific Photobook Archive), Bérangère Fromont – nominated by Laura Lafon (Art Director of Photography at Gaze Magazine), Sasha Kurmaz – nominated by Emma Bowkett (Director of Photography at the Financial Times FT Weekend Magazine), Anouk Kruithof – nominated by Iris Sikking (Curator of Photography bij Fotomuseum Den Haag), Sarker Protick – nominated by Tanzim Wahab (Curator of Chobi Mela Photography Festival), Felipe Romero Beltrán – nominated by Maria Ptqk (independent curator and cultural researcher) and Jokin Aspuru and Lucia Janto (Getxophoto Festival founders and directors), Fethi Sahraoui – nominated by Zied Ben Romdhane (Magnum Nominee), Donavon Smallwood – nominated by Emma Bowkett (Director of Photography at the Financial Times FT Weekend Magazine), Elena Subach – nominated by Kateryna Radchenko (Ukrainian curator and director of Odessa Photo Days Festival) and Diana Tamane – nominated by Adam Mazur (writer, curator and assistant professor at the Department of Photography of the University of Arts in Poznan).