Photographic Publication of the Year 2025: Jury Verdict

As it has been made a tradition, the opening of the Fotofestiwal is not complete without the announcement of the Photographic Publication of the Year. We congratulate the winners and shortlisted artists, and we thank the jury and partners for another edition of this very dear initiative.

The Photographic Publication of the Year competition, initiated in 2008 by Krzysiek Makowski, is celebrating its thirteenth edition this year. The competition is a collaborative effort of three institutions: the Fotofestiwal in Łódź, the Bookoff Art Bookstore, and the Służewski Dom Kultury. Its goal is to promote outstanding publications where photography plays a crucial role – ranging from albums and catalogs to limited self-published works and zines.

The jury, composed of Julia Klewaniec, Anna Duńczyk-Szulc, Krzysztof Pijarski, Adrian Wykrota, Barabasz Opałko, Franek Ammer (Fotofestiwal Łódź), and Paweł Rubkiewicz (Bookoff Art Bookstore), selected 19 publications for the exhibition from 55 submissions. The chosen works stand out for their well-thought-out concepts, excellent graphic design, and high-quality execution. Among the exhibited publications are both debut and modest releases, as well as works by acclaimed artists and veterans of our competition. We want to emphasize that qualification for the FPR exhibition is not based on one’s name, grants won, sold-out print runs, or excellent photographs. Awards and distinctions are granted exclusively to the best photographic publications, where images and design complement each other to create a cohesive and outstanding whole.

The Krzysiek Makowski Main Award and the title of Photographic Publication of the Year 2025 were awarded ex aequo to two exceptional publications. Both books are spectacular, uncompromising, and powerful, with more uniting them than dividing them. Although they address entirely different subjects, in each, the graphic design uniquely complements the artistic expression. Both publications are remarkably striking and impactful:

Studio Prokopiou, WET PAINT, ed. Łukasz Rusznica, graphic design Agata Bartkowiak, pub. Archiwum Słońca

For its groundbreaking reinterpretation of the idea of heritage and its relationship with the present; for its free play with color, gesture, and pose, verging on theatrical exaggeration; for its visual polyphony, which is co-created by a monumental graphic form: from typography, through size, excellent editing, to the coherence of a design that can be called total.

Weronika Gęsicka, Encyclopaedia, ed. Weronika Gęsicka, Katarzyna Sagatowska, Aneta Kowalczyk, Grzegorz Kosmala, graphic design Aneta Kowalczyk, pub. BLOW UP PRESS & Jednostka

For a story that is incredibly vital in today’s world—a narrative that highlights the power and responsibility of words, the fleeting nature of images, and the need to anchor their meanings within a community of experiences; for its excellent editing and lightness in addressing fundamental themes. Additional applause goes to the artist for her pioneering approach and consistency in her artistic endeavors: for creating a publication that seems to exhaust the topic of using generative images.

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Jury special mentions:

Anita Osuch, Dagmara Bugaj, Marek Domański, Nieoswojone pojęcia. Słownik pojęć postfotograficznych, ed. Anita Osuch, Dagmara Bugaj, Marek Domański, graphic design Krystian Berlak, pub. ASP w Łodzi

Regularly, the competition recognizes publications important to the photographic community – those that foster reflection on photography as a medium, its entanglements, and meanings. This time, the honored publication draws attention to new solutions and organizes fundamental categories, both in a popularizing and scientific sense.

Karol Szymkowiak, 0169-8629 5223-01750, ed. Adrian Wykrota, graphic design Krzysiek Orłowski and Karol Szymkowiak, pub. Fundacja Pix.house

For insightful observation of a place – a non-place: an extraterritorial zone of history, geography, politics, and ecology; for consistency in narrating one specific space, leading to more universal questions about other, similar places; for a wise story that doesn’t descend into parody and clichés. Applause also for an excellent debut, after many years of working on other creators’ books.

Agata Ciastoń, Na środkowym pasie latem trawa była wysoka, ed. Dawid Skrabek, graphic design Joanna Jopkiewicz, pub. Wydawnictwo Warstwy

For a wonderful visual and textual journey along a single road, woven from facts and fantasies, from memories and documents – private, local, yet universal at the same time; for an excellent combination of text and photography in an incredibly economical, yet utterly captivating form.

Karol Hordziej, Daniel Muzyczuk, Zygmunt Rytka. Kamienie, mrówki i telewizja, ed. Karol Hordziej, Daniel Muzyczuk, graphic design Lyosha Kritsouk, pub. Fundacja Sztuk Wizualnych & Spector Books

For a publication that can be called an exemplary monograph; this is how stories about creative work should be told – in a complete, understandable, critical, yet also beautiful form, visually consistent with the artist’s work: economically, logically, serially, with humor.

Anna Bedyńska, Forever mine, ed. Adrian Wykrota, graphic design Andrzej Dobosz, pub. Fundacja Pix House

For creating a poignant report, recognizing a problem invisible to the world, and a vigilant attempt to understand it, presented with extraordinary sincerity and empathy, emotionally involving the reader in the stories it contains, as well as for a wonderfully constructed photographic narrative, attention to every detail of the book, and its coherence with the difficult subject.

Anita Andrzejewska, Dancing Your Dream Awake, ed. Monika Szewczyk-Wittek, graphic design Kasia Kubicka, Anita Andrzejewska, selfpublishing

For an extraordinarily photographic narrative, a journey composed of images, where we engage with the frame in a unique way – quiet, meditative, timeless, yet full and complete through an exquisitely refined presentation.

Organisers: Fotofestiwal, Służewski Dom Kultury, Bookoff

Partners: 19 Rzek, Miejsce Fotografii, Fotopolis

The award-winning publications are waiting for you at the festival centre alongside the other book exhibitions. This year these exhibitions include a particular focus on the Palestine scene, the 2025 Dummy Award and a special highlight on the exhibition In  Protest We Trust, a selection of protest photobooks around the world from the Protestinphotobook collection.

Read more on the contest: www.fotopublikacja.pl