Street Life

This year’s EISA Maestro competition focused on street photography. We take a look at the top three winners, including one from our own shores

Six years ago, the European Imaging and Sound Association (EISA), launched its own competition that was open to both amateur and semi-professional photographers. Called EISA Maestro, the competition revolves around a different theme each year, such as ‘water’ and  ‘transport’. The theme for 2017-18 was that ever-popular genre, street photography. The winning entries from each of the 14 participating EISA countries were judged together in June and the final winners will receive their awards at the EISA Gala in Berlin, Germany, in September.

The overall winner, who this year is Martin Schubert from the Czech Republic, will take home a cash prize of ¤1,500 and the EISA Photo Maestro 2017 Trophy. In second place is Tony Sellen from the UK, who takes home ¤1,000 and a trophy, while in third place is Rogowski from Poland who wins ¤750 and a trophy. Not only that, but each of the winners has their images featured in each of the 14 EISA photography magazines in Europe. To learn more, visit www.eisa.eu/maestro LOOKING back through the history of street photography, you could be forgiven for thinking that the one true law is to shoot only in black & white. While black & white street images have their own atmospheric appeal (as we’ll see on the next spread), it can often mean that people end up creating images that, truth be told, we’ve seen a hundred times before. The UK– based street photographer Nick Turpin has always maintained that street photography should be shot in colour. Street images are documents of the real world – they’re captured as seen. We see in colour, therefore our recordings of the street should be in colour. That’s why it’s always a pleasure to see colour street photography, as in this case from the EISA Maestro 2017-18 winner Martin Schubert from the Czech Republic.