Discovering Azerbaijan, its sporting culture and its inhabitants' taste for physical activity will not be reserved only for visitors to Baku during the 2015 European Games (June 12-28). It is possible to discover a broad overview without even taking a plane. A photo exhibition, called “Azerbaijan on the Sports Side”, has been touring Europe for several months. It is currently visible in Paris, in the vast entrance hall of the CNOSF headquarters, a stone's throw from the Charléty stadium.
No less than 65 images make up the exhibition, to present a very diverse face of Azeri sport, where high level and leisure sport, competition and leisure practice coexist. These photos are a selection from an international competition organized by the European Circle of Azerbaijan (TEAS), a pan-European foundation registered in the United Kingdom.
The competition was aimed at professional or amateur photographers. In total, no less than 50 of them sent more than 300 images. The jury was made up of three big names in photography: the American Ed Kashi, co-founder of the VII agency, the German Philipp Rathmer, a portrait specialist, and the Azerbaijani Agdes Baghirzade, rewarded with numerous awards for his work on nature and faces.
The choice was varied, the selection difficult. After passionate discussions, the jury chose three winners, whose names were announced on February 27 in London, during the opening of the exhibition at the OXO Gallery. The winner, Dilavar Najafov, a professional photographer from Azerbaijan, was chosen for a photo entitled "Towards Glory", showing a rhythmic gymnastics specialist at the 2008 Beijing Games. The second prize went to a French photographer and videographer, Paul Robion, for a photo of football players on Ipanema beach, Rio de Janeiro. The third in the competition, Azerbaijani Rufat Abas, presented an image of a car racer on the starting grid, a few minutes before the start of a race. A photo entitled “Last instructions”.
A video presentation of the photo competition, its winners and the exhibition is visible on the TEAS website (www.teas.eu), in the section dedicated to the 2015 European Games.
