About DAFES AWARDS
We established the international competition program DAFES AWARDS to encourage creative achievements, share experiences and form guidelines for professional development in design, art, fashion, education and business.
DAFES AWARDS is awarded in five profiles, 20 categories and 80 nominations, as well as various partner nominations that we form together with educational and creative institutions.
About the nomination
This nomination accepts series of photographs in the field of project, documentary, staged or manipulated photography of all genres, created within the framework of both applied and purely creative practice. Photo books, zines, installations or photographic objects are also accepted.
The jury evaluates the authentic approach to creating a series, the expressiveness of the conceptual solution, the quality of the technical design and (possibly) the final exhibition/publication.
Terms of participation
Both concepts and projects realized or published between November 1, 2023 and April 30, 2025 are accepted for the professional nominations. Proof of publication/implementation is not required for a project to participate in the competition, but the jury may request confirmation through the competition organizers in disputed cases.
Requirements to projects
The specifics of the criteria for the selection, design and submission of the project for the competition are described in each nomination. It is desirable to follow the structure of the project presentation: problem/situation > idea > solution > implementation > results. All projects are submitted to the competition in the format of a longread-format report created on the DAFES platform.
Jury
Andrey Polikanov is a photo editor, visual director of the Takie Dela portal.
Yuri Kozyrev is a four-time winner of World Press Photo and one of the world’s leading photojournalists.
Irina Chmyreva is a lecturer of courses on the history of photography in Russia, the history of collecting photography and the history of photo books at HSE ART AND DESIGN SCHOOL, holds a PhD in art history, is a curator, historian of photography, member of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA).
Vladislav Efimov is alecturer of the Contemporary Art program and the Photography profile at HSE ART AND DESIGN SCHOOL, photographer, artist, participant of international art projects, winner of professional awards.
Vladimir Levashov senior lecturer of the Photography Master’s program, lecturer of the history and theory of photography at HSE ART AND DESIGN SCHOOL, art and photo critic, photography historian, curator of Russian and international contemporary art exhibitions
Nikolay Dmitriev is the founder of PENNLAB Gallery.
Ksenia Plotnikova is the head of the Photography department at HSE ART AND DESIGN SCHOOL, photographer, author and presenter of educational photography programs for teenagers at GES-2 and MMOMA.
Dmitry Ivanov is a photographer, teacher, translator, and head of Medium. Co-founder of the Monochrome Loft photo studio (2010), and the Adept branding agency.
Nadezhda Sheremetova is a curator, photography researcher, one of the organizers of the FotoDepartament Foundation and Gallery, photo critic, editor-in-chief of the online magazine about contemporary photography F.
Zakhar Kolovsky is a photo artist, general director of the RUSPHOTO State Museum and Exhibition Center Federal State Cultural Institution.
Anastasia Tsayder is a documentary photographer, artist, designer and curator from Moscow.
Sergey Sapozhnikov is an artist, photographer, curator.
Registering and uploading a project
The step-by-step way to create an account and create a project on the platform to participate in the contest is described in the instructions.
Contacts