{"id":43648,"date":"2026-09-01T15:41:04","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T13:41:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.urbanphotoawards.com\/?p=43648"},"modified":"2026-09-02T10:20:51","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T08:20:51","slug":"urban-photo-arena-2026-meet-the-four-semi-finalists-and-the-best-voter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.urbanphotoawards.com\/en\/urban-photo-arena-2026-meet-the-four-semi-finalists-and-the-best-voter\/","title":{"rendered":"URBAN Photo Arena 2026: meet the four semi-finalists and the Best Voter!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The knockout stage of <\/span><b>URBAN Photo Arena<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the contest dedicated to young talents under 35,<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">has come to an end. We are delighted to announce the names of the <\/span><b>4 photographers <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">who have earned a place in the <\/span><b>semi-finals<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Ali Zolghadri<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2013 <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Between the Ruptures<\/span><\/i><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Shamim Ul Islam<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2013 <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Echoes of the Shipyard<\/span><\/i><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Silvia Missura<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2013 <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Shadow Leap<\/span><\/i><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Nicol\u00f2 Edoardo Pais<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2013 <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Into the Blue<\/span><\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Our congratulations and best of luck to all four on reaching this stage!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The contest now moves to <\/span><b>Trieste Photo Days (22\u201325 October)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, where the last two rounds will be played out live in front of the festival audience. In this final stage the winners will be decided by the jurors of URBAN Photo Awards 2026: <\/span><b>Mark Power<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><b>Christopher Morris<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">,<\/span><b> Mihaela Noroc, Salwan Georges<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">,<\/span><b> Barbara Silbe <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and many more.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Semi-finals: Friday 23 October <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2013 Sala Xenia<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Final: Saturday 24 October<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, during the URBAN Photo Awards ceremony \u2013 Sala Xenia<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The competing photographs by the four semi-finalists will be on display in the <\/span><b>Sala Arturo Fittke<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> as part of <\/span><b>TALENT2026 under 35<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the <\/span><b>Trieste Photo Days<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> section devoted to young photographers, which also features <\/span><b><i>The Future Was Extracted Here<\/i><\/b><b> by Marcel Van Beek,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> winner of the 3rd <\/span><b>Patricia D. Richards Legacy Award<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. The exhibition will also include the sixteen highest-placed images from the first round of voting. URBAN Photo Arena is organised<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">in collaboration with the Department of Education and Family Policies through <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/pag.comune.trieste.it\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\"><b>PAG \u2013 Youth Area Project<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of the <\/span><b>Municipality of Trieste<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can see the <\/span><b>full bracket<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, with every entrant, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.urbanphotoawards.com\/en\/urban-photo-arena\/bracket-2026\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><b>here<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"su-spacer\" style=\"height:10px\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"rgg-container\" data-rgg-id=\"1\">    <div class=\"rgg-imagegrid captions-overlay-hover-show captions-effect-slide_up \" data-rgg-id=\"1\">\n                    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.urbanphotoawards.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Ali-Zolghadri-Between-the-Ruptures-1.jpg\" data-rel=\"rgglightbox-gallery-0\" rel=\"rgg\"  class=\"rgg-disabled size-full rgg-img rl-gallery-link\"  data-src=\"https:\/\/www.urbanphotoawards.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Ali-Zolghadri-Between-the-Ruptures-1.jpg\" data-ratio=\"1\" data-height=\"2400\" data-width=\"2400\" aria-label=\"\" title=\"\" data-rl_title=\"\" data-rl_caption=\"\">\n                <span class=\"rgg-caption-container\"><span class=\"rgg-caption\"><span class=\"rgg-inner-caption\">Ali Zolghadri - Between the Ruptures<\/span><\/span><\/span>            <\/a>\n                    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.urbanphotoawards.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Silvia-Missura-The-Shadow-Leap-1-scaled.jpg\" data-rel=\"rgglightbox-gallery-0\" rel=\"rgg\"  class=\"rgg-disabled size-full rgg-img rl-gallery-link\"  data-src=\"https:\/\/www.urbanphotoawards.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Silvia-Missura-The-Shadow-Leap-1-scaled.jpg\" data-ratio=\"0.666796875\" data-height=\"2560\" data-width=\"1707\" aria-label=\"\" title=\"\" data-rl_title=\"\" data-rl_caption=\"\">\n                <span class=\"rgg-caption-container\"><span class=\"rgg-caption\"><span class=\"rgg-inner-caption\">Silvia Missura - The Shadow Leap<\/span><\/span><\/span>            <\/a>\n                    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.urbanphotoawards.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Nicolo-Edoardo-Pais-Into-the-Blue-1.jpg\" data-rel=\"rgglightbox-gallery-0\" rel=\"rgg\"  class=\"rgg-disabled size-full rgg-img rl-gallery-link\"  data-src=\"https:\/\/www.urbanphotoawards.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Nicolo-Edoardo-Pais-Into-the-Blue-1.jpg\" data-ratio=\"1.5028177833438\" data-height=\"1597\" data-width=\"2400\" aria-label=\"\" title=\"\" data-rl_title=\"\" data-rl_caption=\"\">\n                <span class=\"rgg-caption-container\"><span class=\"rgg-caption\"><span class=\"rgg-inner-caption\">Nicol\u00f2 Edoardo Pais - Into the Blue<\/span><\/span><\/span>            <\/a>\n                    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.urbanphotoawards.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Shamim-Ul-Islam-Echoes-of-the-shipyard-1.jpg\" data-rel=\"rgglightbox-gallery-0\" rel=\"rgg\"  class=\"rgg-disabled size-full rgg-img rl-gallery-link\"  data-src=\"https:\/\/www.urbanphotoawards.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Shamim-Ul-Islam-Echoes-of-the-shipyard-1.jpg\" data-ratio=\"1.4732965009208\" data-height=\"1629\" data-width=\"2400\" aria-label=\"\" title=\"\" data-rl_title=\"\" data-rl_caption=\"\">\n                <span class=\"rgg-caption-container\"><span class=\"rgg-caption\"><span class=\"rgg-inner-caption\">Shamim Ul Islam - Echoes of the shipyard<\/span><\/span><\/span>            <\/a>\n            <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"su-spacer\" style=\"height:10px\"><\/div>\n<hr \/>\n<div class=\"su-spacer\" style=\"height:10px\"><\/div>\n<h3><b>The Best Voter of URBAN Photo Arena 2026<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Congratulations to <\/span><b>Brunella Pastore<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, winner of the <\/span><b>URBAN Photo Arena Best Voter prize<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">! Match after match, she spotted the photographs that were going to go through, and that consistency took her to the top of the leaderboard.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The prize consists of a \u20ac150 Amazon voucher and a Stroppa camera strap worth \u20ac60, and will be presented during the festival&#8217;s awards ceremony.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><b>The prize<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are two ways to win this competition. Alongside the usual podium for the best photographs as voted by the jury (made up of the entrants themselves and the URBAN Top Jury), there is also a prize for consistent voting and for the photographic instinct to pick the winning shot. The<\/span><b> Best Voter prize<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> goes to whoever has collected the<\/span><b> most points <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">by the end of the<\/span><b> semi-final round<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><b>How the scoring works<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Every time a photograph you voted for in a match goes through to the next round, you earn points. The points on offer rise round by round, which keeps the contest gripping and unpredictable right to the last minute! The Best Voter prize is therefore within reach of every entrant, including photographers already knocked out of the main competition.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The knockout stage of URBAN Photo Arena, the contest dedicated to young talents under 35, has come to an end. We are delighted to announce the names of the 4 photographers who have earned a place in the semi-finals:\u00a0 Ali Zolghadri \u2013 Between the Ruptures [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43649,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[530,6],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.urbanphotoawards.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43648"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.urbanphotoawards.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.urbanphotoawards.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.urbanphotoawards.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.urbanphotoawards.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43648"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.urbanphotoawards.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43648\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43661,"href":"https:\/\/www.urbanphotoawards.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43648\/revisions\/43661"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.urbanphotoawards.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.urbanphotoawards.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.urbanphotoawards.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.urbanphotoawards.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}