In 2021 the Riga Photography Biennial Seeking the Latest in Photography! prize is presented for the fourth time. The goal of the award is to discover and appraise the creative efforts of young artists who demonstrate the power of the image in their works, offering an original point of view and conceptual depth, suited to the times. It highlights emerging Baltic artists whose works are already dominated by these qualities. Since 2019, the award has been presented within the Biennial's off-year programme NEXT in cooperation with the ISSP Gallery.

In 2021, the international jury presented the main award to Visvaldas Morkevičius for his series Looking Forward to Meet Me. Morkevičius also received the VV Foundation prize – an opportunity to take part in the PAiR Residency in Pāvilosta. The special prize – an opportunity to publish a photobook with the NoRoutine Books publishing house – was presented to Kristīne Krauze Slucka for her series Vibrations of a Material Universe. Thirst of Gold.

Looking Forward to Meet Me by Morkevičius is realized as a (narcissistic) introspection; an artist’s self-analysis transformed into a visual and spatial work. The title of the project is a projection of a future moment, an impending encounter with oneself. While the collection of works within the project includes one self-portrait, the photograph remains almost imperceptible as it is framed underneath a stained glass pane. The project is thus a portrait ‘in becoming’ that relies on art history symbols, tropes borrowed from classical mythology, psychoanalytic interpretations, and personal memories. Some visual elements are rather figurative, while other photographic works drift towards abstraction. As a result, the project creates a collage of myriad connections and associations that defy arbitrary boundaries of representation as portrayal. Looking Forward to Meet Me rejects the canonical quality of objective likeness that the genre of this project is defined by, and delves into the process of self-awareness, recognition and understanding.

Commenting on their decision, the jury noted: “Morkevičius' work is a playful interpretation of self-analysis, built with great creativity. His practice shifts on to the borderline of photography using a brilliant mixed media approach. Through this Morkevičius creates a multi-layered visual scenario where the viewer is invited not just to view the artist's portrait, but also be on the lookout for their own. The project, conceived in recent months, is a mirror of contemporary social and cultural issues, talking about self-knowledge, introspection and self-acceptance.”

2021 jury: Saara Hacklin (FI), curator at the Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art; Valentinas Klimašauskas (LT), curator, writer and curator of the 14th Baltic Triennial; Adam Mazur (PL), art critic, art historian and curator; Elena Vaninetti (IT), curator and editor at YET Magazine; Audrey Hoareau (FR), artistic director of Photo Basel; Laura Toots (EE), curator and project manager of Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia (EKKM) and Evita Goze (LV), artist, curator, writer and ISSP Gallery representative.

Participant: Visvaldas Morkevičius (LT)
Curator: Inga Brūvere (LV)
Organizer: Riga Photography Biennial in cooperation with ISSP and Nordic Council of Ministers’ Office in Latvia
Image: Visvaldas Morkevičius. ‘Looking Forward to Meet Me’ #10, 2020