A route through the centre of Amsterdam, six themes, three jurors and an exhibition at Dokzaal in December.
Every year the race goes to a new part of Amsterdam, and in 2017 the route ran through the busy city centre, along its streets, parks and squares, in search of the best series of the day.
New and experienced photographers raced together, and the day drew media attention: an audio podcast by Valérie Jardin with Maurice Vliegen, a video on Salto.nl's Festival Journaal and a video by Cafe Obscura.
New faces found out that this really is a race, one that takes energy all day, while the regular racers had become calmer and more selective. What the team valued most was how everyone helped each other with tips, motivation and feedback, even on such a tight schedule.
Over the years the most valuable thing has been the network of photographers that grew around the race. The team thanked Alicia Sanz and Beatriz Pineda for their help on race day, every checkpoint location, and every racer who turned the themes into photographs.
Huge thanks to the organizers for yet another brilliant UPR event!
The exhibition at Dokzaal
On Saturday 9 December the year closed at Dokzaal, with the winners in large format and every racer's photographs on the walls, and almost all thirteen winners received their prizes in person.
The series
Jurgen Onland
1st place
"I finally became an old guy" · Anton Corbijn
Theme 1
On track
Theme 2
Not close enough
Theme 3 · Best Theme
Noise
Theme 4
Timothy Luza
2nd place
"I finally became an old guy" · Anton Corbijn
Theme 1
On track
Theme 2
Not close enough
Theme 3
Noise
Theme 4
Hosing Lee
3rd place
"I finally became an old guy" · Anton Corbijn
Theme 1
On track
Theme 2
Not close enough
Theme 3
Noise
Theme 4
Guillaume Groen
"I finally became an old guy" · Anton Corbijn
Theme 1 · Best Theme
Marc Schager
Noise
Theme 4 · Best Theme
Michiel Witlox
On track
Theme 2 · Best Theme
Sergey Alimskiy
Body language
Theme 5 · Best Theme
Three photographers judged every series.
Heleen
PeetersPhotographer · picture editor · project manager, Paradox
Bas
LosekootArtist & photographer
Theo
NiekusStreet photographer · publisher
The race day and the exhibition at Dokzaal, in photographs.
What the winners took home.
Best Theme
- Each themeBest Theme"I finally became an old guy" (Anton Corbijn), Guillaume Groen · "On track", Michiel Witlox · "Not close enough", Jurgen Onland · "Noise", Marc Schager · "Body language", Sergey Alimskiy · "Warm", Jurgen Onland. Each won a Van Duuren Media photo book + UPR prints.
Jury favourites
- 1 winnerJury favouritesHeleen Peeters selected Ellis Petri · Theo Niekus selected Marius van Pijpen · Bas Losekoot selected Rob van Hoorn. Prizes courtesy of Degreef & Partner.
Global Theme · "Water in the City"
- Each themeGlobal Theme · "Water in the City"1st, Robert de Bock · 2nd, Perle Laouenan-Catchpole · 3rd, Yvette de Bruin, each with Fokko Muller's "The Street" photo book + UPR prints.
With thanks to our partners.