The first race of the 2021 season and the first UPR in Maastricht: six hours and three themes in the far south.
The 2021 season was a competition in three races, and it began in the far south: on Saturday 5 June the Urban Photo Race came to Maastricht for the first time, from 12:00 to 18:00, with three themes, Heilige huisjes (sacred cows), Sjiek en sjoen (Limburgish for chic and pretty) and Go with the flow. Every racer chose three photographs per theme for the jury.
Juliet Van Steenwinkel, nine years old, became the youngest racer in UPR history, and did very well.
Each race earned points for the season: from the jury's ranking, two points for every juror who chose a racer's photograph as their favourite, and five for the public's favourite, chosen in first rounds on Zoom.nl and a knock-out on Instagram.
In Maastricht the jury favourites went to Michael Szarpak, chosen three times, and Rob van Hoorn, and the public chose Esther Gerritsen.
The series
Hans van Leeuwen
1st place
Heilige huisjes
Theme 1
Sjiek & sjoen
Theme 2
Go with the flow
Theme 3
Michael Szarpak
2nd place
Heilige huisjes
Theme 1 · Jury favourite
Sjiek & sjoen
Theme 2
Go with the flow
Theme 3 · Jury favourite
Peter Nijsen
3rd place
Heilige huisjes
Theme 1
Sjiek & sjoen
Theme 2
Go with the flow
Theme 3
Four photographers judged every series.
Diana
BokjePhoto coach
Fokko
MullerStreet photography teacher · author of The Street
Monique
de ZwartPhotography mentor and teacher
Pieter
van LeeuwenPhotographer · writer
The public's favourite photograph.
What the winners took home.
Three themes
- Each themeThree themesHeilige huisjes (sacred cows) · Sjiek en sjoen (Limburgish for chic and pretty) · Go with the flow.
Jury favourites
- 1 winnerJury favouritesMichael Szarpak (selected three times) and Rob van Hoorn.
Public favourite
- 1 winnerPublic favouriteEsther Gerritsen, decided by public preliminary rounds on Zoom.nl followed by an Instagram knockout.
Youngest participant ever
- 1 winnerYoungest participant everJuliet Van Steenwinkel, aged nine, the youngest photographer to enter a UPR race.
With thanks to our partners.