The fourth edition of the international Felix Schoeller Photo Award closed on 31 May 2019. Once again, the number of participants increased compared to the last edition of the competition. Over 4,000 photographers from 115 countries have registered to take part in the Felix Schoeller Photo Award 2019.

The new special category “German Peace Award for Photography”, initiated for the first time jointly by the City of Osnabrück and the Felix Schoeller Group, got off to a very good start with 252 participants from 36 countries. The new “fashion photography” category also performed very well. The award ceremony will take place on 19 October 2019 in Osnabrück.

Development as an internationally recognized, high-quality award

“The development of the award is basically very pleasing,” says Dr. Friederike Texter, Senior Vice President Corporate Communication at the Felix Schoeller Group. “But it is not only the purely nominal increase that is important to us. Rather, we pay attention to the international composition of the participants, which has now risen to 83% and includes photographers from 115 countries. That’s only ten more than in 2017, but it proves that the competition has given us global recognition among professional photographers.” In qualitative terms, too, the trend already recognized in previous years is continuing: “Without wishing to anticipate the jury’s work, we are noticing again an increase in the number of renowned photographers who have already received international awards. The Felix Schoeller Photo Award thus reaches the best in the industry worldwide. This confirms that we are on the right path and will continue to pay attention to the high quality of the competition”. Dr. Texter summarizes the development. According to Michael Dannenmann, jury chairman of the award, the new category “Fashion Photography” is an enrichment, which got off to a great start: “I am very much looking forward to the intercultural diversity of the submitted works.

German Peace Prize for Photography with a remarkable debut

For the first time, the international community of photographers was called upon to submit works on the theme of peace for the “German Peace Prize for Photography”. The prize will be jointly awarded by the City of Osnabrück and the Felix Schoeller Group in 2019. “It is not so easy to establish a new prize internationally. On the one hand, the number of competitions has not decreased. Moreover, of course, the subject itself is very challenging in its entire breadth and depth of interpretation. Above all, because for the “German Peace Prize for Photography” as well as for the Felix Schoeller Photo Award, we demand a photo series as a condition of submission that stands in a conceptual context. In this case, too, our focus is on the artistic examination of the subject. We had set ourselves the goal of submitting around 200 entries. We have clearly achieved this.

The 252 participants come from 36 countries, which Dr. Texter also regards as a success of the international orientation. “The “German Peace Prize for Photography” has established itself internationally right from the start and underlines the importance for the cultural strategy of Osnabrück, the city of peace”, summarizes Dr. Texter.