Alisa Martynova Wins Aesthetica Editorial Award at Belfast Photo Festival with Migration Series
Alisa Martynova has been honored with the Aesthetica Editorial Award during the 2024 Belfast Photo Festival Open Submission. Her notable work, Nowhere Near (2023), captures the journeys of African migrants in Italy through intimate portraits that defy conventional statistics. Among those featured are Mahamadou, a Senegalese-Gambian who fled to Florence after university protests, and Roena, a Gabonese student residing in Italy. Instead of just documenting, Martynova creates metaphorical worlds in her images, showcasing a diverse group of young Africans. Born in 1994, this Florence-based photographer has received several international awards, including the World Press Photo for Portrait Series in 2021. The festival will run from June 6 to June 30, 2024.
Key facts
- Alisa Martynova won the Aesthetica Editorial Award at the 2024 Belfast Photo Festival
- Her series Nowhere Near (2023) portrays African migrants in Italy
- Subjects include Mahamadou (Senegalese-Gambian) who fled to Florence after university demonstrations
- Another subject is Roena, a Gabonese international student in Italy
- Martynova was born in 1994 and is based in Florence
- She has won World Press Photo in Portrait Series (2021), LensCulture Emerging Talent Prize (2023), and Royal Photographic Society Documentary Photography Award (2023)
- Belfast Photo Festival dates: 6–30 June 2024
- IOM 2024 report: 11+ million African migrants in Europe in 2020; 190,000 undocumented arrivals Jan-Sept 2023
Entities
Artists
- Alisa Martynova
- Lucia De Stefani
- Diana Bestwish Tetteh
Institutions
- Aesthetica Magazine
- Belfast Photo Festival
- IOM
- PH Museum
- World Press Photo
- LensCulture
- Royal Photographic Society
Locations
- Belfast
- United Kingdom
- Florence
- Italy
- Nigeria
- The Gambia
- Rwanda
- Congo
- Senegal
- Gabon
- Europe
- Africa