The 2024 BUP Book Award is officially over and it is time to announce its winner. In our contest, we are looking for projects that describe the complexity of today’s world, that raise the issue of the multi-layered nature of humanity, that follow our motto “When the story matters.” The projects shortlisted this year were of exceptionally high quality in terms of photography and subjects. We were impressed by the diversity of approaches and creativity. It was a real visual pleasure to see the world through them. But there can only be one winner…

But first let our jurors talk about the winning project:
Mireia Alises: “Great photographic work that not only brings visibility to the oppressed community, but also provides an immersive and moving experience for the viewers by showcasing letters written by the protagonists themselves.”

Laura Carbonell: “Very poetic and beautiful! I would love to have this book already.”

Ania Nałęcka-Milach: “Tender and heart-breaking story. Very sophisticated visually, subtle but strong.”

Ladies and gentlemen, the winner of the 2024 BUP Book Award is…

Marcos Rico (Spain) with a project titled Rahasia!
Congratulations, Marcos!

Rahasia (secret in Indonesian) explores the reality of the Muslim homosexual community in Indonesia. The project focuses on the moral dilemma faced by this group as their sexual condition calls into question their own Islamic beliefs. Growing up in a system where you can't say who you really are puts them in a constant situation of negotiation between their life and a hostile environment. They must follow their religion and respect their family to maintain their honor. These complexities make it difficult for them to come out as gay.

For us, Rahasia by Marcos Rico is a perfect example of how difficult topics can be presented in a visually stunning way. Beautifully composed images contradict the situation of the project's characters. Man versus a system motivated by religion. Love versus beliefs. Can the BLOW UP PRESS motto be better illustrated?

We would like to thank all participants of the 5th edition of our contest. We were impressed by your submissions, the topics you covered and power of their messages. We also thank our jurors: Mireia Alises (Spain), Laura Carbonell (Colombia), Ania Nałęcka-Milach (Poland), Manuel Sigrist (Switzerland), Douglas Stockdale (USA) and Robin Titchener (United Kingdom). You had a very difficult task to complete, but you handled it brilliantly.

See you next year!

2024 BUP Book Award shortlist

 

JURORS

The BUP Book Award contest is organised by BLOW UP PRESS, publishing house based in Warsaw, Poland, with the support from Arctic Paper S.A., leading European producer of high-quality graphic papers.