JUDGES
Pia Parolin (France / Germany)
Born in Italy, Pia lives between the French Riviera and Germany. With a PhD in tropical biology, she partly turned to photography after an international scientific career. She has been practising street photography since 2016, with a humanistic, poetic and sometimes abstract approach. Her work focuses on street scenes, Mediterranean light, colours and human interactions. She works extensively on the theme of water.
She teaches at the Leica Akademie Germany. She was convened to the DGPh (German Photographic Society) and is a member of Collectif Photon and Street Déclic, with whom she exhibits regularly. She has also published seven books on photography (dpunkt.verlag, Éditions Baie des Anges), combining practice, perception and psychology.
She is a frequent speaker at photography and science festivals and conferences. Pia combines writing, sensitive observation and visual engagement to portray the world with authenticity.
Instagram, Facebook @piaparolinphoto
YouTube Pia`s Journey youtube.com/@piaparolin
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/piaparolin/
Linktree https://linktr.ee/piaparolinphoto
Academia.edu https://globo.academia.edu/PiaParolin
Books (in German): https://dpunkt.de/?s=Pia+Parolin&post_type=product
Workshops Leica Akademie Deutschland https://store.leica-camera.com/de/de/programm?p=1&o=8&n=12&f=1938
Jean-Pierre Defraigne (Belgium) EFIAP & EPSA
Self-taught and benefiting from the assiduous attendance of two Belgian photo-clubs, first Arte VIII from 1987 to 2003, and then Riva-Bella, which he joined in 2004, Jean-Pierre willingly defines himself as a “generalist” photographer. A priori, everything interests him, from macro photography to portrait outside the studio, passing from street photography to Nature in the broad sense.
But it is architecture and everyday graphics that constitute his preference, probably because of professional studies and practice in the world of architecture. Familiar with the universe of lines, volumes, and surfaces, he ensures to “humanize” the graphic game of images by inserting a human element into them, to highlight the scale, the contrast, and the presence of the subject. He likes to say that the photographer is a writer who only writes his stories with one finger, the index finger, by the light of his eye.
He has to his credit 6 solo exhibitions and participated in about thirty group exhibitions.
Outside Belgium, he exhibited in Coudekerque (France) and was invited to exhibit his works at the Belgian pavilion of the International Exhibition “Zaragoza 2008” (Spain), on the theme of Water.
Since 2023, he has participated in numerous international competitions under the patronage of FIAP (Fédération Internationale de l’Art Photographique) and PSA (Photographic Society of America). His 1260 acceptances accumulated since, besides several trophies, earned him recognition for the titles of EFIAP and EPSA.
In 2027, he will exhibit his works dedicated to the greatness of nature at Waterloo, where he resides, on the occasion of his 80th birthday.
Bernard Decaudin (France) EFIAP/b & EPSA
“In one hand, soil, in the other one, a camera, always.”
BERNARD DECAUDIN is both a tropical agronomist and a photo-nomad, humanist and passionate about the world. He is as much a teacher-researcher dedicated to agriculture and environment in southern countries as a photography enthusiast, driven to show and tell stories.
For 30 years, he pursued this dual activity throughout South America and Africa.
He produced numerous scientific articles where photography always serves as a poetic echo of the documentary (“The Baobab of the Sahel” / “Malagasy Traditions”).
Frequent traveler, he regularly contributes to the french magazine Bouts du monde (“Far side of the world” in english / “Encounter in the Heart of the Desert” in 2019 / “Approaching Elephants” in 2020…).
Finally, he tirelessly exhibits his photographs at festivals, where he shares his commitment to the world. (Menton Expo 2021 “The Eyes of the Deaf of Burkina Faso” / FIPA 2022: 3rd prize…)
Finally, through EFIAP and EPSA, BERNARD regularly participates in judging competitions in the UK and internationally.
BERNARD earned the titles EFIAP/b accredited by the International Federation of Photographic Art (FIAP) and EPSA from the Photographic Society of America (PSA). He is frequently judge at french and international competitions.
