My Friend in my City - a Photo Competition

UBC Commission on Education organized the International Youth Photo Competition for young people aged 13 - 16. It was open from May to September 2006 and was organised in co-operation with Kärdla Municipality. 15 youngsters from Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia were registered the Competition.

When choosing the theme for the Competition, the organizing team searched for a slogan which could be understood in many ways. The theme "My Friend in My City" was eventually approved.

a) Who is my friend in my city? A boy/ girl? A dog/cat? A computer? A TV- set? A new and an expensive car?
b) In which city is my friend: In this city where I live? Or there where I would like to live? Or in the city where I was born?

So this theme gave plenty of room for phantasy.

55 photos were sent in, lots of very good ones. The jury had a very difficult task, because the level was very equal. The jury had to face the problem what to do if many photos have the same amount of points and rating. To ensure objectivity, the members of jury were invited from different countries - Poland (2), Sweden (2), Finland (1) Latvia (1) and Estonia (4) and international experts from the UK (2). After long and exhausting work the winners were announced:

1. place - Valdur Roosenvald from Estonia
2. place - Roberta Tranizaite from Lithuania
3. place - Anna Hodjutsenko from Estonia.

The UBC Commission on Education printed the top 30 photos and organized a photo exhibition. The exhibition "My Friend in my City" was opened in Kärdla on 8 October 2006. During the opening ceremony, the prizes were also handed in. A video clip from the opening will be also displayed on the UBC homepage. Anyone interested is welcome to visit the exhibition. After the tour in Estonia it may also visit other cities if requested.