FUJIFILM Global has chosen the 15 winning projects, and their authors, of the GFX Challenge 2023, let’s discover together the project by Vanessa Vettorello, Italian artist
For the 2023 edition, over 2,000 applications arrived from all over the world. The selection took place over three moments, over two months. The first two stages were completed at the regional level, while the final stage was completed at the global level with the help of the five guest judges. Among the five winners of the Global Grant Award is the Italian Vanessa Vettorello, awarded for the project “Stella errante”, as well as Jodi Windvogel (South Africa) with The body at Risk, Juan Carlos Reyes (Mexico) with Guardians of Mother Language , Markus Naarttijärvi (Sweden) with Hinterland and Shina Peng (Taiwan) with Furusato.
©Vanessa Vettorello “Wandering Star” Hero.
FUJIFILM: the winners of the GXF Challenge 2023
Judge Amanda Maddox commented on Vanessa Vettorello’s work with these words: “This eye-catching project addresses a relatively common, but little-examined condition called strabismus. Inspired by research and own experienceVettorello has generated a series of touching and tender images that collectively promise to shed light on an important topic.”
Vanessa Vettorello is an Italian photographer born in 1985. In 2017 she was selected for Eddie Adams Workshop XXX, in New York, and is a member of Women Photograph. With her background in psychology, Vanessa’s documentary work explores notions of perception, identity and modernity. Her projects have been exhibited at Les Rencontres d’Arles, the Turin Cinema Museum, the Marangoni Foundation in Florence and the Head On Festival in Sydney.
“Wandering Star” is the second phase of an ongoing exploration of strabismus, a condition that had a significant impact on my childhood. Through an analysis of my memories, archival materials, and engagement with others who have experienced strabismus, I am reevaluating how an illness can affect one’s identity and self-perception.
Strabismus is quite common, affecting approximately 4% of the population, and its effects go beyond mere aesthetics. This project sits in the realm of contemporary documentary photography and is part of a larger effort focused on disability.
FUJIFILM: the winners of the GXF Challenge 2023 | Experience using the GFX system
For the Regional Grant Award, the winners are Alex Velasco (Stati Uniti) with the project El Grano De Oro, Dike Su (Mainland China) with Sight of Storm, Jatenipat Ketpradit (Thailand) with People and Their World: Tsam · The Dance of Gods, Jerick “Anyo” Tights (Canada) with Athletes of God, Junghoon O (Korea) with Unseen Echoes: Capturing the Unseen Symphony of Human Gestures, Kaylah Sambo (USA) with The Bodies We Are Born With, and Large Django (France). ) with The Masters of Time, Mislav Mesek (Croatia) with Soundscape of Croatia – Roadtrip, Santiago Javier Bazan (Argentina) with Minga, Seokjun Yun (Korea) with Structures of Solitude: The Desert Towers Project.
All Global and Regional Grant Award recipients, in addition to a cash prize, they will also gain experience in using the GFX System equipment, receiving a camera body and two Large Format system lenses for the duration of the project’s production, as well as technical assistance from Fujifilm technicians/product experts.
The 15 selected will begin working on their projects immediately. All projects will be completed by June 2024, and the final results will be presented in an exhibition that will be on display at FUJIFILM headquarters in Roppongi, Tokyo, in November 2024.