Photo of the Year: Shomrim’s Democracy Prize for 2021

The Democracy Prize for 2021, awarded as part of the annual Local Testimony exhibition, which opened last month, was won by photographer Nimrod Gluckman, for his photograph of Beitar Jerusalem captain Idan Vered looking at the fingernails of Sapir Berman – the first transgender soccer referee in Israel. The video prize was awarded to Yochai Shalom Hadad for ‘The Water Mark’

The Democracy Prize for 2021, awarded as part of the annual Local Testimony exhibition, which opened last month, was won by photographer Nimrod Gluckman, for his photograph of Beitar Jerusalem captain Idan Vered looking at the fingernails of Sapir Berman – the first transgender soccer referee in Israel. The video prize was awarded to Yochai Shalom Hadad for ‘The Water Mark’

The Democracy Prize for 2021, awarded as part of the annual Local Testimony exhibition, which opened last month, was won by photographer Nimrod Gluckman, for his photograph of Beitar Jerusalem captain Idan Vered looking at the fingernails of Sapir Berman – the first transgender soccer referee in Israel. The video prize was awarded to Yochai Shalom Hadad for ‘The Water Mark’

The winning photo for 2021 by Nimrod Gluckman,

Shomrim

in collaboration with

November 18, 2021

Summary

Last month saw the opening of Local Testimonies, an annual exhibition of photojournalism in Tel Aviv. Founded in 2003, the exhibition presents the best work of photographers working in this region. Last year, Shomrim – The Center of Media and Democracy sponsored two of the prizes and it is only natural that we continue to do so, thereby forming a tradition of cooperation with this splendid institution. Both of these prizes – the Democracy Prize and Video Prize – are worth 10,000 shekels to the winner.

The Shomrim Prize for Democracy was won by Nimrod Gluckman, for his photograph of Beitar Jerusalem captain Idan Vered looking intently at the lacquered fingernail of Sapir Berman, the first transgender soccer referee in Israel. Berman, who made a public announcement regarding her transition, was officiating at a Premier League match between Hapoel Haifa and Beitar Jerusalem at the Sammy Ofer Stadium in Haifa on May 3, 2021.

The prize for a video dealing with democracy and justice was awarded to Yochai Shalom Hadad for ‘The WaterMark.’ Two incidents caught the attention of the cinematographer, who captured images using a camera drone: a truck belonging to the Temple Mount Faithful getting stuck in a sinkhole while collecting stones to be used for an altar on the Temple Mount, where they would make their Passover sacrifice; and a hut belonging to Palestinian laborers that caught fire. The videos were shot north of the Dead Sea in April 2020.

This year, 6,159 photographs, taken by 376 professional photographers, were submitted to the exhibition. Of them, 165 were selected for the exhibition, along with five video works. Prizes were awarded in the following categories: News, Nature and Environment, Religion and Faith, Society and Community, Urbanism, Culture, and Long-exposure for a single shot and a series. Among the winners in the completion Israeli photographers were Natan Dvir, for his photograph of Yitzhak and Faina Halmeizer after a rocket hit their home in Ashkelon during Operation Guardian of the Walls. Series of the Year was won by Oren Ziv, whose photos of protests at the Evyatar outpost and in Kfar Beta in June and July 2021 were published by the Local Call website.

The curator of Local Testimony 2021 was Galia Gur Zeev. The founder and director is Dana Wohlfeiler-Lalkin and the panel of judges included photographer and curator Vardi Kahana, who is also among the founders of Shomrim – The Center for Media and Democracy.

This is a summary of shomrim's story published in Hebrew.
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