Created in 2007, ESTAÇÃO IMAGEM is a non-profit cultural association whose mission is to study, debate, and disclose a variety of subjects on the image, in particular, photography. Up to date, ESTAÇÃO IMAGEM is the only entity in Portugal to setup an international photography award every year – an award focused in the promotion of photography reports. The competition is open to photojournalists from Portugal, Galicia, and Portuguese-speaking African countries as well as to foreigners residing in these territories. ESTAÇÃO IMAGEM has developed several national and international projects since its inception; among these, we highlight:
- Granting of two annual working Grants;
- Publishing;
- Production of exhibitions;
- Creation of a photography archive.
The initiatives are supported by various institutions and the private sector in Portugal as well as by leading international organisations in the area of journalism and photojournalism. ESTAÇÃO IMAGEM partners with major media organisations in Portugal, namely, RTP, Lusa Agency, and Público newspaper.
ESTAÇÃO IMAGEM is engaged in the promotion of photography reports – the large number of participants throughout the prize’s editions only confirms the significance of these initiatives. The jury is always composed of internationally renowned professionals in the field of photojournalism.
Other aims of ESTAÇÃO IMAGEM are:
- To support photography projects, prioritising photojournalists and the documentary value of their works;
- To create a photography archive as a way to safeguard collective memory;
- To search for, keep, maintain, catalogue, research, and update an image roster-bank intended to facilitate the visibility and access to the lifelong-archives of a great many photographers;
- To produce multimedia projects with special emphasis on emergent issues brought by the advances in information technology, and also on interdisciplinary projects comprising a diversity of artists from varied artistic fields and methods;
- To launch and facilitate research, debate, and training through seminars, internships, and short courses or similar learning initiatives, with the collaboration of individuals and institutions based in Portugal and abroad;
- To bond ESTAÇÃO IMAGEM with the communities by engaging with the local population in initiatives of photography exhibition and knowledge;
- n accord with our reach and objectives, to set up partnerships with public and private organisations in Portugal and other countries.