IRINOX SAVE THE FOOD @MIA Photo Fair BNP Paribas 2026 – ph. ZIMA Studio
The award that highlights food as nourishment for the mind, culture, and spirit
Curated by Claudio Composti
The jury selected Zanetti’s work for its ability to synthesize a multidisciplinary project (video, performance, and installation) into an evocative and powerful image, seamlessly merging aesthetics with profound symbolic complexity.
Special Mention awarded to Valentina Bellomo for Garum, a work that powerfully underscores the ethical urgency of avoiding food waste.
The YEAST Photo Festival Award was presented to Pier Costantini for the project CIBO, an intimate and familial narrative exploring the relationship between nourishment and identity, which will be exhibited this September in Matino during the Yeast Photo Festival.
MIA Photo Fair BNP Paribas renews its commitment with the fifth edition of the IRINOX SAVE THE FOOD Award, realized with the support of Irinox S.p.A. – Società Benefit, a leading company in the production of high-quality blast chillers and food preservation systems, which has always been committed to environmental sustainability and the reduction of food waste.
The IRINOX SAVE THE FOOD Award was established to promote photographers who, through the use of imagery in all its forms – from photography and video to more experimental practices – address the theme of food as a symbolic, cultural, and social element.
Open to all Artists regardless of age or nationality, The Award does not seek merely to recognize the technical or aesthetic quality of the works, but to promote a collective reflection on the role of art and photography in contemporary society, and on how food — a universal and essential theme — can become a lens through which to observe and reinterpret the world around us.
With the new designation Feeding the Image, the Award embraces a broader and deeper perspective on the concept of nourishment. It is no longer just about physical sustenance, but nourishment for the mind, culture, and spirit.
Photography, in this way, becomes a tool capable of nourishing the gaze and generating awareness, transforming the theme of food and sustainability into a visual language of reflection and responsibility.
Up to 15 artists will be selected by the Jury to participate in the collective Award exhibition at MIA Photo Fair BNP Paribas, scheduled from March 19 to 22, 2026, at Superstudio Più, Milan.
In addition, one of the showcased works will be selected to join the IRINOX Corporate Collection through the IRINOX PURCHASE AWARD, with a value of €5,000 gross, enriching Irinox’s dedication to photography. The winner will be chosen by a jury from the works on display during the fair.
SELECTED ARTISTS 5th EDITION IRINOX Save the Food Award
- Valentina Bellomo, Italy
- Evelyn Bencicova, Slovakia
- Pier Costantini, Italy
- Umberto Diecinove, Italy
- Sara Lepore, Italy
- Ada Marino, Italy
- Francesco Papetti, Italy
- Henriette Sabroe_Ebbessen, Denmark
- Sara Vighi, Italy
- Daniele Vita, Italy
- Virginia Zanetti, Italy
ADDITIONAL PRIZE
MIA Photo Fair is pleased to confirm its partnership with Yeast Photo Festival, launching the fourth edition of the Yeast Award. The selected winning project from the 15 finalists, regardless of the IRINOX Purchase Award winner, will be showcased at the fifth Yeast Photo Festival in Matino (Lecce), curated by Artistic Director Edda Fahrenhorst.
Since 2022, Yeast Photo Festival has brought together photography, food, and visual arts to reimagine the human-environment relationship and explore themes of sustenance, identity, tradition, and environmental impact, directed by Flavio & Frank and Veronica Nicolardi, with Edda Fahrenhorst as curator.
The fifth Yeast Photo Festival will begin on September 25, 2025.
AWARD JURY
All submitted projects will be reviewed by the jury, which will select up to 15 artists, from which the winner of the Irinox Save the Food Purchase Award will be chosen. The jury members include:
- Katia Da Ros – Entrepreneur and Vice President of Irinox S.p.A., Conegliano (TV)
- Claudio Composti – Independent curator, founder, and art advisor of mc2gallery
- Emanuela Mazzonis – Indipendent curator
DEADLINE: January 23, 2026
AWARD FEATURES
TITLE: IRINOX SAVE THE FOOD – Feeding the Image
WINNING ARTISTS: Up to 15 finalists will be seleceted by the curator Claudio Composti and the Award’s jury
MAIN AWARD: Exhibition at MIA Photo Fair 2026 and Acquisition Award IRINOX COLLECTION
ADDITIONAL AWARD FOR ONE OF WINNERS: Yeast Award: participation in the fifth Yeast Photo Festival (Matino, Lecce)
PARTICIPATION FEE: € 50,00 +VAT (*if applicable) = € 61,00
in collaborazione con
PHOTO: GABRIELA GONZALES RUBIO
CLAUDIO COMPOSTI
Claudio Composti is the founder and artistic director of mc2gallery in Milan and the creator of the online platform Periscope Photoscouting, aimed at discovering and promoting young Italian and international photographic artists. He works as an independent curator for artistic projects, collaborating with both Italian and foreign galleries, public institutions, and museums. Since 2018, he has been an art advisor for private collections and serves as the artistic director of the gallery/private collection at the Hotel Plaza et de Russie in Viareggio (LU). Additionally, he collaborates as a curator with Leica Akademie Milano. Composti participates as a Folio Reviewerat various Italian photography festivals, such as FFE_Festival Fotografia Europea in Reggio Emilia, as well as international events like Les Rencontres de la Photographie in Arles, France, and Face a la Mer in Tangier. He has contributed an essay to the book: “Fermo immagine: Arte vita e mercato della Fotografia” edited by Maddalena Mazzocut-Mis and Chiara Spenuso (published by Mimesis) and an essay on Lisette Model for the catalog released on the occasion of the exhibition at Camera (TO) and for the exhibition curated by him and Chiara Spenuso at the Mart Museum in Rovereto, titled “Cabaret Vienna. L’atelier fotografico Manassè” (published by MART).
