2022 Driving Energy photography award: may the best win!

Terna launches a photography competition. The Driving Energy Award 2022 competition is open to all Italian photographers, whether professional or amateur: the only requirements are that the work submitted is original and fits the theme of Cameras on driving energy. Participants are requested to present an artistic image representing the mission of Terna, the company that manages the Italian national electricity grid, and its role in the country’s energy transition.

It is free to participate, and submissions will be accepted until 31 August 2022. Two winners will be selected: one for the "youth" category, up to 30 years of age, who will win € 5,000 and another for the "senior" category, who will receive € 15,000. Three further photographs will receive special mentions, winning € 2,000 each: one will be selected by majority vote by the more than 5,000 employees at Terna, while the other two will go to the works that best interpret the values of inclusion ("Contemporary Normality") and environmental sustainability ("Circularity. Courses and Recourses").

All finalists will get to see their photographs published in the third edition of the volume "Driving Energy" and on display in an exhibition at Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome, presented by Terna. The event will be inaugurated in November 2022 with announcement of the five winners (selected in September). The award, which received the Medal of the President of the Republic, is curated by photographer, editor and exhibition curator Marco Delogu. There will be a panel of six judges: Salvatore Settis, art historian and academic; Lorenza Bravetta, curator of photography, cinema and new media at La Triennale di Milano; Elisa Medde, editor, curator and writer on photography; Emanuele Trevi, writer and literary critic, Premio Strega 2021; Massimiliano Paolucci, head of External Relations, Institutional Affairs and Sustainability at Terna; and Jasmine Trinca, actress.

This choice of judges, explained Delogu, «enables multiple perspectives and languages, without focusing on the technical aspects of photography». «Energy is a theme that needs to be handled with many different languages, and this photography award will be judged by people who interpret it through the language of their own art” added the curator. The shared goal, clarified Lorenza Bravetta, is «to promote heterogeneous exploration and experiences, creating important bridges between the various level of Italian photographic culture». «I hope to see a great deal of courage and honesty, works from artists and photographers and individuals working in the visual sphere, particularly from younger generations that are approaching this profession. I hope they provide a picture of what is happening in Italy today, what is happening in the streets, in families, in town squares and in schools, and with a desire to explore who we are», explained Elisa Medde.

The judging panel will be supported in their decisions by the curator and the Award's Presidential Committee, composed of Valentina Bosetti and Stefano Donnarumma, Terna's Chairwoman and CEO, respectively. «For Terna, the Driving Energy 2022 Award means a return to culture, for the benefit of the country. It speaks of our values: courage, integrity and inclusion. Courage, because artistic work implies choices; integrity, because of the commitment to creating and selecting genuine value through images; and inclusion, because we have set up an Award that is open to all and with a particular focus on young people», emphasised Terna's Chairwoman, Valentina Bosetti.

Mr Donnarumma explained that Terna’s goal with the Driving Energy Award 2022 is «to make a further contribution to the growth of local areas and communities, bringing out new talents in the art of photography and generating new opportunities in a discipline that, by its very nature, lends itself to a transversal and inclusive approach». «A collection of black and white portraits and landscapes decorated the interiors of my first home with my wife in Turin, almost thirty years ago», remembered the manager during presentation of the award at the Parco della Musica venue in Rome on 19 May.

«My father-in-law was the photographer. He was an employee at Lancia and was so talented that the company decided to put on an exhibition of his shots. Despite not being a professional, for me remains an artist: his works have always had a place on the walls of our homes, right to this day. Truly exceptional works of art and brilliance. They have always been the works that most inspire me and move me. I remember car and train journeys with my parents across Italy; the window was my iPad: the factories, chimney stacks, bridges and pylons... extremely striking images that fascinated me and, not by chance, accompanied me throughout my life» continued Mr Donnarumma. From an engineer’s perspective «the artistic dimension of works of human ingenuity is evident», noted Terna's CEO. Like it is evident that «the works that characterise our present and that will increasingly characterise our future are connected to energy and its development».