XII Annual Beni Truttmann Photo Competition

Submissions accepted until 11 April

Starting today, aficionados of photography can participate in the Beni Truttmann photo competition, the most extensive of its kind on Formentera and one which now enters into its twelfth year of history. This, as reported today in press conference by Formentera's councilor of Education, Culture and Local Patrimony Sònia Cardona and the Office of Culture's technical specialist Anna Costa.

The twelve year old competition has, since its beginnings, embraced Formentera nature in all its forms – spectacular natural beauty, fauna, vegetation, and even human interaction with nature – all toward the goal of transmitting a sense of commitment to the environment and to its preservation. The initiative came about as a means to render homage to a photographer who had been so significant for the island: Beni Truttmann. Truttmann left Formentera in the care of a personal archive of more than thirty thousand photos, a demonstration of the his love for the natural beauty of the island.

Participants can submit up to a maximum of three photos (analog or digital) in the categories of black/white and colour. Accepted formats include square, digital, classic and panorama and participants can be awarded first, second or third place distinction in every category, which carry cash prizes of 500, 300 and 200 euros respectively.

Photos must be submitted to the Citizen Affairs Office respecting an 11 April deadline, with completed submissions also including the participant's relevant personal information. The anonymity of all submissions is guaranteed by the use of a registration number given to every participant at the time of submission.

A jury will be composed of the following members: a representative of the Grup Balear d'Ornitologia i Defensa de la Naturalesa de Formentera (Balearic Group for Ornithology and the Defense of Formentera's Natural Spaces), a representative of the Obra Cultural Balear de Formentera, three individuals with recognised experienced in the visual arts, a president and a secretary.

Winning photos will become part of the Formentera Council's image and sound archive (Arxiu d'Imatge i So) and will remain at the disposition of the Council for use in any future not-for-profit graphic representations considered opportune (posters, signs, Internet, etc).

The annual photo competition exists to assure the survival of the memory of this grand artist. It has become an opportunity for lovers of photography to get close to the work and example that Truttmann left behind.

The competition's eleven years of history translate into an accumulated photographical archive that is extremely valuable for the Council, thus far collecting 1,114 photos and seeing the participation of more than 350 people in the previous six years of recorded registrations alone. The event's growth has been made evident by the arrival of participating photographers from such far-flung cities as Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Lugo and Saragossa and even some European countries.

The event will culminate in an exposition at the Exhibition Hall of the Old Town Council (Ajuntament Vell) on Monday, 28 April in homage to the date on which the artist died. The exposition will also include the announcement of this year's competition winners and delivery of prizes.

The exposition – comprised of some 50 photographs collected this year – will remain open until 10 May.

Conditions of the competition can be consulted on the Formentera Council's website, www.consellinsulardeformentera.cat