The ephemeral city

The subject of the competition referred to capturing specific and relevant aspects of urban space and urban life, which, in terms of the competition theme, could be approached from the perspective of the following elements: ambience, light and shadow, characters, events/manifestations. Competitors could choose to address one or several subjects simultaneously, and participation was open to students from the university as well as to other students or future students with a passion for photography and urban life.

The photo exhibition-competition with the theme "THE CITY EFEMER" was organized by the fourth year students of the Faculty of Urbanism of the University of Architecture and Urbanism "Ion Mincu", Bucharest. It took place from January 17, 2012 to January 27, 2012, in the exhibition space of the university, dedicated to these types of events. Of course, a set of criteria for the acceptance of the works in the competition was also established. As normative data, the works were realized in teams of minimum 2 and maximum 4 members, on 900 mm x 650 mm format, glossy paper, vertically paginated. The works contained between 10 and 20 photographs, presented in black and white and/or color techniques, each image being accompanied by the obligatory mention of the place/places from which they were taken.

The exhibition opened on January 17, and the teachers invited to give a short speech were prof. dr. arh. Mariana Eftenie (whose lecture titled "The ephemeral city", during the course "Psychological Approach to the Urban Space", motivated us to approach this topic in the form of an exhibition), prof. dr. arh. Tiberiu Florescu (interim dean of the Faculty of Urbanism), lecturer dr. arh. Gabriel Pascariu (coordinating professor).

The awards ceremony took place on January 23, 2012. The jury was formed by dr. arh. Francoise Pamfil, conf. dr. dr. arh. Tiberiu Florescu, lecturer drd. arh. Arpad Zachi and assistant dr. dr. arh. Vlad Eftenie. 7 prizes were awarded:

- First Prize: Costin Gheorghe and Matei Eugen Stoean, year IV, Faculty of Architecture U.A.U.I.M.

- Second Prize: Simion Dan and Stoian Ionuț, year III, Faculty of Urbanism, U.A.U.I.M.

- Second Prize: Tudose Roxana and Enciu Daniel Gabriel, year I, Faculty of Architecture U.A.U.I.M.

- Third Prize: Drob Timotei Nicolae and Drăgoiu Rareș, year VI, Faculty of Architecture, U.A.U.I.I.M.

- Third Prize + Mention for photographic technique: Diana Bărbat, year V, Faculty of Architecture, U.A.U.I.M., and Alina Cristea, year I Master Katholieke Universiteit, Leuven

- Popularity award, hall vote: Gonț Andreea and Lincu Andreea, year IV, Faculty of Urbanism U.A.U.I.M.

- Popularity award, Facebook vote: Călifar Sergiu and Constantin Ana-Maria, year IV, Faculty of Urbanism, U.A.U.I.M.

First Prize

The grand prize winners are Costin Gheorghe and Matei Eugen Stoean, year VI students of the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Architecture and Urbanism "Ion Mincu", Bucharest.

Having been interested in photography in its various aspects for some time, the two winners enthusiastically welcomed the proposal to take part in the exhibition organized by colleagues from the same university, which was finalized by a competition: "Shortly after I heard about this competition and its theme, I wanted to participate because it captured, to some extent, part of my research in photography. I also collaborated with Costin because he too has always tried to capture the human and the urban in his photographs". The basic motivation (the concept) that Matei and Costin started from in the process of creating the work was, first and foremost, the moment that has just passed, which now no longer exists. Asked to express their motivation in a few words, they responded as follows: "The ephemeral city of a second ago no longer exists, but the city of the moment we are responding to exists, but we hope to have captured the previous one in a photograph".

The completion of the photo montage took around 3 days and the message the team aimed to convey was to sensitize the viewer/admirer/critic to "theimportance of man in the urban space" and also to emphasize "that the formation, development and evolution of a city is interdependent with the decisions, activities and involvement of its inhabitants, influencing each other. I saw in people the source of the city's existence, a living organism nourished by their hopes, aspirations and determinations".

But what were the criteria they followed in choosing both the moments and locations to capture the images to compose the message? "We have tried to respond to the requirements of the theme by presenting a series of photographs that have as their central element THE PEOPLE, in their various poses, but always in direct relation to the city - from the contemplative viewer to the passer-by or active character. I restricted the search criteria to dynamic shots, capturing as many simultaneous events taking place in a single instantas possible". Costin and Matei set themselves a set of subjective principles for choosing their photos, namely: "rigor in composition, novelty and to convey emotion".

In terms of their experience in taking part in such competitions, the two recall their high school days, which were full of such events, and as for their future plans in this branch of architecture, they have admirable ambitions: "In the future we want to go even deeper into architectural photography, and especially urban photography - of the decisive moment". They also plan to "pursue such a career alongside the profession of architect".

They are all the more appreciative of the prize they have won as they found out the composition of the jury after the awards ceremony: "considering the composition of the jury for this competition, it is not only an extra motivation, but also a greater sense of responsibility for future photography". From a personal, critical point of view, the two see "the ephemeral in relation to the everyday in the context of today's city" as follows: "the ephemeral is much more emphasized today, more often than not the fact is consumed before it is perceived as a fleeting action. This is why we believe that today everything needs to be immortalized, anywhere and anytime. Today, man no longer has time to react, to perceive emotion".

Second prize

Simion Dan and Stoian Ionuț

One of the two Second Prizes was won by two students at the Faculty of Urban Planning at UAUIM, in their third year of study, namely Simion Dan and Stoian Ionuț.

They decided to take part in this competition in order to emphasize their ideas and their skills as observers of the urban space, acquired during their years at the faculty. The concept behind the realization of this poster was linked to the human hypostases in the urban setting, the fact that "it is man, passing through time and space, who animates the place", the urban setting being only "the scene of the unfolding of the ephemeral". The ephemeral is an important component of the urban context, giving it substance and content.

The main photographic technique was the use of a long exposure time, to make the passing of people seem like a shadow, in the context of a stable physical setting. In order to render their idea as clearly as possible, the criteria for the choice of locations were materiality, color and quality of urban spaces.

In a personal vision, they describe the ephemeral city as an "infinite place of the unfolding of the ephemeral represented by people. In itself, the ephemeral city is MAN. The ephemeral is an indispensable energy resource of the city".

From the point of view of participating in photography and graphic photography competitions, the two are novices in this experience, being for the first time in a competition of this kind, and the prize they won will be an additional motivation for their perseverance in this field.

Second prize

Tudose Roxana and Enciu Daniel Gabriel

The winners of the second second prize awarded by the jury in the competition are Tudose Roxana and Enciu Daniel, two first year students at the Faculty of Architecture at UAUIM.

The determination to participate in this competition was closely linked to their passion for photography and the proposed theme, which deals with the metaphor of time and ephemerality. "It was an opportunity for us to capture, through the prism of images, an important part of the city, which is constantly marked by transformations."

The support, the poster concept reflects their concern for history, for the memory and identity of the old center of Bucharest, captured with extraordinary sensitivity. "The past and the buildings are an important part of the history of the city, and for this reason should be seen as a source of information from which to learn and analyze."

The actual photographic editing and graphic processing of the photos took several days, while the capturing of the frames was a process of ensuring that the chosen locations were in close connection with the message they wanted to convey through the poster, namely that "the city is a social framework in constant change in accordance with the needs of its inhabitants". In terms of photographic experience, the two say that they have taken part in photography competitions in high school, some of which even resulted in prizes, but they do not consider themselves professionals in this field, where you are constantly learning new things. For Roxana and Daniel, the competition was a spur to further improve their photography.

The contemporary city, in the perception of the two students, "tends to invade the remnants of the traditional city, existing in numerous architectural gestures, whereby the two types complement each other without destroying each other".

Third Prize

Rareș Drăgoiu and Drob Timotei Nicoale

Rareș Drăgoiu and Drob Timotei Nicolae, winners of one of the two Third Prizes, have produced a special work that has generated much "controversy". Produced on normal paper, with photos of rather poor quality and a lot of writing, it impressed the jury with its humor and sarcasm.

They had never participated in a photography competition before, not being explicitly passionate about the subject, but "the hobby is more about the mechanics of cameras on film than the eventual visual result, which is considered in the team as a documentary residue".

And as a result, in the poster, most of the photos they inserted "were taken with a rather rudimentary Belarusian camera, on 35 mm ISO 200 color film, of the worst quality acceptable on the white market".

The concept from which they started in their creation was the publications on the pages of real estate advertisements, "a stock of original photographs chosen according to their documentary relevance, to which were added bodies of text formed by reconstructing the code used in the real estate advertisements by the bidders (a collective that has built an expressiveness characteristic of these publications, permanently adjustable and necessarily lapidary, precisely because of its strict aim to sell as quickly as possible). The city (in our case, the built environment) has been ephemerized by its transformation into a commodity to be circulated".

In today's context, the ephemerality of cities can now be captured in much different ways than in the bygone era of medieval cities, for example, as Rareș and Timotei tell us, "today, emotion is manufactured in artificial complexes of entertainment and consumption".

But photographic art is also changing, evolving perhaps... and from their point of view photographic art in the next 20 years will be "closely linked to the future mutations of photoshop".

Citation for photographic graphics

Rareș Drăgoiu and Drob Timotei Nicoale

Rareș Drăgoiu and Drob Timotei Nicolae, winners of one of the two third prizes, have produced a special work that has generated much "controversy". Produced on normal paper, with photos of poor quality and a lot of writing, it impressed the jury with its humor and sarcasm.

They had never participated in a photography competition before, not being explicitly passionate about the subject, but "the hobby is more about the mechanics of cameras on film than the eventual visual result, which is considered in the team as a documentary residue".

And as a result, in the poster, most of the photos they inserted "were taken with a rather rudimentary Belarusian camera, on 35 mm ISO 200 color film, of the worst quality acceptable on the white market".

The concept from which they started in their creation was the publications on the pages of real estate advertisements, "a stock of original photographs chosen according to their documentary relevance, to which were added bodies of text formed by reconstructing the code used in the real estate advertisements by the bidders (a collective that has built an expressiveness characteristic of these publications, permanently adjustable and necessarily lapidary, precisely because of its strict aim to sell as quickly as possible). The city (in our case, the built environment) has been ephemerized by its transformation into a commodity to be circulated".

In today's context, the ephemerality of cities can now be captured in much different ways than in the bygone era of medieval cities, for example, as Rareș and Timotei tell us, "today, emotion is manufactured in artificial complexes of entertainment and consumption".

But the art of photography is also changing, perhaps evolving... and from their point of view, in the next 20 years, photography will be "closely linked to the future mutations of photoshop".

The article was realized by formulating several questions to which the winners of the contest answered by e-mail. The answers to these questions were reworded and put into a compact text.

The questions were:

1. What motivated you to participate in the "Ephemeral City" competition?

2. Did you have a message you wanted to convey through your entries?

3. How long did the photo montage take to complete and what photographic techniques did you use?

4. What were the criteria you used to choose the moments and locations for photographing the ephemeral city?

5. You have described the ephemeral city in the poster and photographs you took. But how would you describe it in a few words? (concept)

6. Have you participated in other photography competitions? Are you experienced in this field or is it just a hobby?

7. Do you think that this award will encourage you to go further into photography?

8. What do you think might be the criteria for judging a photo?

9. How do you see photography in the next 20 years from your perspective?

10. How can you describe the ephemeral in relation to the everyday in the context of today's city, which seems not to be able to offer as much excitement as medieval cities, for example?

Constantinescu Nora, Necula Mihai, Pătrașcu Radu, Rădădulescu Andra and Puiu Adriana participated in the formulation of the questions.