The winners of the photo contest “Growing with Your Food”, which is part of the European Capital of Culture Tartu 2024 activities, have been announced. More than 1,100 photos were received for the international competition, primarily from Estonia, but also from Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovenia, Spain, Georgia, Montenegro and Wales.
The competition invited people to capture moments in the garden, to show others the magic and the pain of growing food. Individual photos and photo essays from educational and community gardens, as well as home gardens, were welcome. The works were evaluated by a jury consisting of photographers Heikki Leis and Urmas Tartes, Triin Pikk, Tartu with Earth Programme Line Manager, and Karin Pai, the initiator of the “Growing with Your Food” project.
The photos were evaluated in the categories of children, youth and adults.
The main prize in the children’s category went to Georgia, where the photo essay, made by 11-year-old Mariam Meiparian, tells about the experience of growing an ancient wheat variety in the school garden.
The Winner of the youth category was 16-year-old Zala Debelak from Slovenia, who captured a moment on camera with the playful and multi-meaning title “Bee Happy!”.
In the adult class, the main prize went to Estonia and it was awarded to Viktor Panasenko for his work “Spectacular chicken”.
Public school of village Dekhviri, where Mariam studies, congratulated her on the victory in the competition.
“Congratulations to Mariam and our school for this great victory”, the school said, publishing photos of pupils working in the garden together.
Dekhviri school is an eager participant in the Eco-School project being implemented with the support of the Swedish government, through the environmental organization Keep Georgia Tidy.
Read more about the winners of the competition
