Art Vision Awards Cannes 2026: A Night Where Images Became Encounters
Art Vision Awards Cannes 2026: A Night Where Images Became Encounters
When Images Become Encounters
September 11, 2026 will remain a significant date in the history of Art Vision Awards.
For the first time since the competition was created, photographers, artists, jury members, designers, partners and international guests gathered in Cannes for a ceremony entirely dedicated to images and the people who create them.
Held on the Croisette at the Laurence Jenkell Gallery, during the Cannes Yachting Festival, this first official evening gave a new dimension to a project that had, until then, developed primarily as an international and digital platform.
For a few hours, the photographs left the screen and met a real audience.
And behind every image there was now a name, a story and an artist.
From Competition to Encounter
Created by photographer and publisher Gil Zetbase, Art Vision Awards was built around a simple idea: to discover international talent and offer photographers something more than a ranking.
The project has gradually developed different spaces for expression: international competitions, publication in AVA Magazine, Art Vision Awards digital platforms, social media and now physical events where artists can meet one another.
The evening of September 11 therefore marked an important first step.
Photographers from different countries, generations and artistic backgrounds came together around the same passion.
Portraiture, documentary photography, fashion, street photography and artistic experimentation all contributed to the diversity that has become part of the Art Vision Awards identity.
It was no longer simply about looking at a series of photographs.
It was about discovering the people and perspectives behind them.
Two Editions Celebrated in Cannes
The ceremony honoured photographers recognised during the first two editions of the competition, as well as the finalists selected by the jury.
In the first edition, Victor Nassia received First Prize for Aria.
Azim Khan Ronnie placed second with his work created in Quang Phu Cau, while Alexia Vic received third place for Avant-première.
The second edition then revealed a new range of photographic voices.
Japanese photographer Risa Kitamura won First Prize with Illusion of Justice.
Roberto Flores received Second Prize for Life Between the Tides, while Dominique Jaussein took third place with Bisous d’une Grand-mère Mentawaï….
But Art Vision Awards does not intend to limit recognition to the podium alone.
The finalists also played an essential role in the ceremony, their work contributing fully to the artistic diversity presented to the audience.
An International Jury, Different Ways of Seeing an Image
The selection process is based on bringing together different sensitivities and perspectives.
The Art Vision Awards jury included Laurence Jenkell, Jean-Baptiste Fort, Dan Oliver, Aïna Zovko, François Vermeersch and Mark Jack.
Artists, photographers, creative directors, models and personalities from different creative worlds each bring their own references and interpretation of an image.
That diversity is essential.
No photograph is ever perceived in exactly the same way by two people.
For one viewer, light may be decisive. For another, composition, emotion, storytelling, the photographer’s personality or simply that difficult-to-explain feeling that makes an image remain in the memory.
It is through this confrontation of perspectives that the Art Vision Awards selection takes shape.
Laurence Jenkell: Where Contemporary Art Meets Photography
For this first ceremony, the Laurence Jenkell Gallery offered a particularly symbolic setting.
A French artist with an international presence on the contemporary art scene, Laurence Jenkell is especially known for her Wrapping Bonbon works, which over the years have become an immediately recognisable signature.
As both a jury member and an artistic partner of Art Vision Awards, she opened the doors of her creative universe to photography.
Her artworks and the selected photographs shared the same space throughout the evening.
This encounter between sculpture and photography perfectly reflects the spirit Art Vision Awards seeks to develop: creating dialogue between artistic disciplines rather than keeping them separated.
The evening also gave Laurence Jenkell the opportunity to share her experience and vision of artistic creation with the guests.
Photography Meets Haute Couture
One of the highlights of the evening was the fashion show by designer Mina Binebine.
Trained in Los Angeles and based in Marrakech, the Moroccan designer has developed a universe in which craftsmanship and contemporary aesthetics meet.
Corsetry, embroidery, sculpted volumes, handmade details and strong silhouettes brought movement to an evening largely built around still images.
The connection felt natural.
Fashion photography cannot exist without clothing, movement, light, models and staging.
By placing a fashion show at the heart of the ceremony, Art Vision Awards wanted to highlight the close relationship between photography and fashion creation.
The show was produced in partnership with The Direction Group, the international agency led by Aïna Zovko, who is also a member of the Art Vision Awards jury.
It created another connection between photography, artistic direction, events and fashion.
An Evening Designed as an Experience
The ceremony was not limited to the presentation of awards.
Throughout the evening, a series of performances and interventions created a genuine rhythm around the photographic presentations.
The dancers of Fiesta 4 Event brought movement and energy to the event.
Music was provided by DJ Rita Warhol, accompanying the different moments of the evening as well as the fashion show.
On stage, Laurent Amar presented the ceremony, the artists and the different sequences of the programme, gradually introducing guests to the Art Vision Awards universe.
Photography, music, dance, fashion and contemporary art came together within the same event.
It was an expression of what Art Vision Awards seeks to become: a platform where different forms of creativity can meet.
Philip Andrukhovich Behind the Lens
An evening dedicated to photography naturally needed to be documented by a photographer.
Philip Andrukhovich followed the event and captured its defining moments: meetings between guests, artists, the fashion show, award presentations and the atmosphere of this first ceremony.
His reportage now represents the visual memory of September 11.
The photographs also allow the international Art Vision Awards community, much of which could not be physically present in Cannes, to experience the event.
A ceremony lasts only a few hours.
Images remain.
Angela Donava, at the Heart of the Organisation
Behind an evening such as September 11 lies a considerable amount of work carried out long before the first guests arrive.
Angela Donava played an essential role in the preparation and coordination of the first Art Vision Awards ceremony in Cannes. For several weeks, she oversaw the organisation of the event, coordinated the different contributors and accompanied every stage of its preparation.
Her commitment, availability and work behind the scenes were instrumental. Without her involvement, this evening simply could not have taken place under the same conditions.
Art Vision Awards would like to express a very special thank you to Angela for her dedication alongside Gil Zetbase and the entire team.
The Partners Who Made the First Ceremony Possible
Organising a first international ceremony requires much more than a venue and a programme.
It relies on partners and individuals willing to believe in a project from its earliest stages.
The Laurence Jenkell Gallery welcomed Art Vision Awards in the heart of Cannes and made this encounter between photography and contemporary art possible.
The Direction Group, led by Aïna Zovko, contributed to the fashion and event dimension of the evening and to the production of Mina Binebine’s fashion show.
Fiesta 4 Event contributed to the artistic programme through its dancers.
Miami Soul, a partner of the event, was also present to support this first Art Vision Awards evening in Cannes.
Lookbook Magazine, the project’s media partner, contributes to the visibility of Art Vision Awards within the worlds of photography, fashion, art and international creativity.
Alongside them, DJ Rita Warhol, Laurent Amar, Philip Andrukhovich, the jury members, artists, technical teams, models, designers and everyone involved in preparing the event contributed to the success of this first ceremony.
Art Vision Awards would like to thank each of them for their trust and commitment.
A first ceremony never exists on its own.
It exists because people decide to build something together.
Taking a Photograph Beyond Borders
Art Vision Awards was born online, but its ambitions now extend far beyond the digital world.
Today, a photographer can submit work from Europe, Asia, the Americas, Africa or anywhere else in the world.
That image may be discovered by an international jury.
It may become a finalist.
It may be published.
It may appear in AVA Magazine.
And a few months later, that very same photograph may be presented to an audience in Cannes.
This transition from digital to physical is one of the directions Art Vision Awards now intends to develop.
Because behind every photographic competition lies a wider objective: to circulate images and create opportunities for encounters.
Fashion, Street & Editorial: A New Edition Is Already Open
Only a few days after the ceremony, the adventure continues.
The new international edition of Art Vision Awards is dedicated to three major territories of contemporary photography:
Fashion for its ability to create worlds.
Street photography for its spontaneous observation of everyday life.
Editorial photography for its ability to tell a story through a series of images.
The competition is open to photographers worldwide until October 31, 2026.
The selected works will in turn become part of the Art Vision Awards universe and may receive visibility across the project’s platforms and AVA Magazine.
Next Rendezvous: February 2027
Cannes was only the beginning.
Art Vision Awards is already preparing its next awards ceremony, scheduled for February 2027.
This time, the setting will be completely different.
The next ceremony is planned in a beautiful villa overlooking the Mediterranean, creating a new environment in which to present the works, welcome photographers and continue the encounters that began in Cannes.
Each edition should have its own identity.
Each location should help tell a new story.
But the ambition will remain the same: to place photographers at the heart of the project and give their images the opportunity to be seen beyond a screen or a simple competition.
A First Chapter
September 11, 2026 was therefore more than an awards ceremony.
For Art Vision Awards, the evening marked the transition from a virtual community to a real one.
Artists who had never met before came together.
Photographs submitted from different countries were presented in the same place.
Fashion met photography.
Photography met sculpture.
Music and dance accompanied the images.
And for a few hours, a project born around an international photography competition became a genuine meeting place.
Perhaps this is where the true ambition of Art Vision Awards now lies.
To discover images.
But above all, to discover the people who create them.
Where Art Meets Vision.
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