Szymon Szcześniak

Szymon Szcześniak was selected for the 2021 European Press Prize shortlist with ‘Sisters of Europe.’

Szymon Szcześniak was born in Poland, earned a Bachelor’s degree in photography from the Institute for Creative Photography (ITF) in Opava, Czech Republic in 2004 and Master’s degree in 2012. He is mainly a commercial photographer working for advertising agencies and some prestigious Polish magazines. Awarded among others by the Zloty Orzel 2008 and Grandfront 2009 I miejsce prizes, his work has been exhibited in Port Autonome Gallery in Paris (2004), Yours Gallery in Warsaw (2007), Leica Gallery Warsaw (2012), Leica Gallery in Solms Germany (2012), Fujifilm Gallery Warsaw (2017) and Fujifilm Gallery Tokyo Japan (2018).

Lina Vdovîi

Lina Vdovîi was selected for the 2021 European Press Prize shortlist with ‘Sisters of Europe.’

Lina Vdovîi is an award-winning Romanian freelance journalist. She has experience in narrative journalism, investigative journalism and new media. In December 2012, she joined the Romanian Centre for Investigative Journalism and in 2014 became a fellow in the Balkan Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence. That same year, she was awarded first place in the Feature Writing category at Premiile Superscrieri. In 2015, Lina received the distinction Young Journalist of the Year awarded by Freedom House, Romania. Her articles have been published in outlets such as Courrier International, EUobserver, Transitions Online, The Guardian, RFE/RL, the Christian Science Monitor, Balkan Insight, Al Jazeera and The Black Sea.