The Centre Cultural el Casino in Manresa hosted the awards ceremony for the 16th edition of the Modest Francisco Memorial Photographic Award on Friday. The main winners were Andreu Noguero Cazorla, from Sitges, and Manu Barreiro Rodríguez, from the Basque Country, both of whom had been previously awarded, demonstrating their continued photographic excellence.

Noguero received the special “El Nen” prize, endowed with 600 euros, for his work Jocs de guerra, repeating the success achieved two years ago in the same category. For his part, Barreiro, originally from Beasain (Guipúzcoa), won the first prize in the free theme category (500 euros) with the work Míriam Ou, an award he previously won in 2020. In this latter category, Noguero took second place (400 euros) and José Ramón Luna de la Ossa (Tarancón) third (300 euros). All winners received a medal created by the sculptor Ramon Oms.

The competition, organized by the Manresa City Council in collaboration with Foto Art Manresa, was created in homage to the photographer from Manresa, Modest Francisco Erill (1932-1999). The event was attended by the Mayor of Manresa, Marc Aloy Guàrdia, the Councillor for Culture and Language, Tània Infante Martínez, and the president of Foto Art Manresa, Bernat Bozzo Closas, who was responsible for reading the verdict.

Following the ceremony, the exhibition featuring the 154 photographs submitted by 32 photographers from across Catalonia and the rest of Spain was inaugurated. The exhibition can be visited at Espai 7 of the Centre Cultural el Casino until February 1st. The winning works will become part of the collection of the Manresa Museum.