10 Years of UEFA Membership Captured by Gibraltar’s Football Photographers
‘The Art of the Game’ – Ten years of UEFA membership captures through the lenses of Gibraltar’s Football Photographers.
On the 23rd of May 2013, the Gibraltar Football Association was admitted as UEFA’s 54th Member Association. This was a day that would change Gibraltarian football for good, both on and off the field of play
2023 marks ten years of this monumental day for football on the Rock, and in the build-up to the 10th anniversary of UEFA Membership, the Gibraltar FA commissioned an independent photographic exhibition telling the story of the last 10 years of Gibraltarian football as captured by Gibraltar’s football photographers.
Gibraltar’s football photographers spend countless hours at football matches and events all around Gibraltar and abroad, capturing magical moments on the field of play, very often with little or no recognition for their efforts and the work they put into each and every photograph they take.
Often, their photographs are used once in a social media gallery, newspaper, or online article about a particular match they are covering, and then the photograph gets consigned to history.
Titled “The Art of the Game – Captured by Gibraltar’s Football Photographers,” the exhibition ran for 3 weeks at the beginning of July at the Gustavo Bacarisas Gallery in Casemates.
Central to the project was the independent Curator Jon Segui. Jon, himself a passionate and well-known local photographer, meticulously put together an amazing exhibition that centered around inviting Gibraltar’s football photographers to contribute and submit their 10 best football images for each of the last 10 seasons (the seasons that Gibraltar has been a UEFA Member).
Once all the photos were submitted, a panel of 3 judges, comprising Jon himself (the exhibition’s curator), Leslie Linares (the Chair of the Gibraltar Photographic Society), and Artist and Teacher Karl Ullger, thoroughly assessed each photograph that was submitted and then selected the ten best images for each season, meaning one hundred photographs were put on display at the exhibition.
The independent judging panel was also tasked with selecting a photo of the season for each of the 10 seasons and, ultimately, a “Photo of the Decade,” which was unveiled at the exhibition’s official opening.
The judges made their decisions and selected the images on display in the exhibition based on photographic skill and artistic excellence, rather than the footballing context, subject, match, competition, or moment that a photograph represents.
At the exhibition, alongside the hundred photos selected by the panel, every photograph that was submitted was put on display on TV screens in the vaults at the Gustavo Bacarisas Gallery.
Neil Wilson was awarded the ‘Photo of the Decade’ by the judging panel for his extremely poignant and emotional photograph of the late great Sports Journalist, John Shephard (Senior), presenting his trophy at the annual veterans match to Gibraltar football legend Colin Ramirez.
The exhibition proved to be an overwhelming success, and the Gibraltar FA would like to express its immense gratitude to Curator Jon Segui, the exhibition judging panel, and all of the photographers who contributed. Here’s to the next ten years of Gibraltarian football and football photography!
