Eloi Gimeno Award 2025

This year, Foto Colectania and ArtLibris in collaboration with the Friends of Eloi Gimeno Association, will award a photobook the Eloi Gimeno €2,000 Prize for the best photobook in this 4th edition.

Overview

This award was created to honour the legacy of designer and editor Eloi Gimeno, whose career left a deep mark on the world of photobooks and contemporary photography. His work was defined by self-publishing, exquisite design, aesthetic risk-taking, and a strong commitment to collective creation processes. In 2010, he published the photobook Hellsinki, a self-published work that received two Laus awards and was voted by Photo-eye as one of the best books of that year.

This prize aims to recognize recently published photobooks that are innovative, daring, and demonstrate creative freedom. Special consideration will be given to works that reflect the philosophy and values that inspired Eloi Gimeno's work and artistic career, highlighting creativity, originality, design work, discourse, and the synergy between the designer, photographer, and the rest of the team. Special consideration will be given to works from small publishers and self-published projects.

Practical Info

Participation in the prize can be done in two ways:

A. Participation via ArtsLibris attendance: the first and main way to qualify for the award will be to have the book displayed at the stands of the exhibitors, publishers, and/or projects participating in the ArtsLibris fair, without the need to complete any formalities.

B. Participation via independent submission: As an alternative, all works not for sale at the ArtsLibris fair may participate through the Call for Entries opened by the Friends of Eloi Gimeno Association.

Works must be sent in digital format (a PDF of the book or a sequence of images with the entire book open, as well as a brief biography and description of the project, with a maximum file size of 100 MB) to amigoseloigimeno@gmail.com and llorachfw@diba.cat (of the Agustí Centelles Library / Eloi Gimeno Collection). A pre-selection of all the works received will be made, and the authors of the selected books will be notified so they can send them in physical form to the Eloi Gimeno Collection, Esquerra de L’Eixample Library – Agustí Centelles, C/ Compte d’Urgell, 145, 08036 Barcelona. The Friends of Eloi Gimeno Association will cover the shipping costs and the price of the selected books, which will be displayed at the Association's booth at the fair.

The prize consists of a €2,000 award for the author, which will be jointly contributed by Foto Colectania and ArtsLibris. The winning book will also be promoted by the three organizations organizing the award during the following year and, among other publications, will be presented at Foto Colectania.

The jury will be composed of Willy Rojas and Nacho Caravia, and a third person who will be announced shortly.

The jury’s decision will be announced during ArtsLibris Barcelona, in a public presentation taking place on Sunday 12 October 12 2025, at 1:00 p.m. at ArtsLibris, MACBA.

About Foto Colectania

Foto Colectania is a non-profit organisation, founded in Barcelona in 2002, with the aim of disseminating photography and introducing it within the social, artistic and educational field in our country.

The programs undertaken at the Foundation, from exhibitions to activities and publications, are based on the creation of an innovative, participatory and inclusive project focused on thought around image and its basic foundations, enhancing its communicative capacity and its suitability to generate critical thinking.

Foto Colectania especially works at two different levels: on the one hand, within the context of the city of Barcelona, presenting a high-quality cultural offer focused on excellence; and on the other hand, within the international context, producing and disseminating projects by Catalan and Spanish artists abroad.