The Milano Photo Awards jury brings together institutions, curatorial expertise, and diverse visions of contemporary photography.
Its members include:
Joining these organizations is an international, multidisciplinary panel of photographers, authors, curators, and imaging professionals, selected for the diversity of their backgrounds and artistic styles. Street photography, reportage, portraiture, documentary work, and fine art photography converge in a collective evaluation process that considers each work in its entirety: technical quality, narrative strength, originality of vision, and the ability to create a visual and emotional impact.
A US-based photographer and visual artist living in Los Angeles, Scarlett Freund was born in New York and raised in São Paulo, a multicultural background that has profoundly shaped her artistic vision. Working across street photography and portraiture, she focuses her practice on the human figure and the tensions of contemporary life. Her work has received recognition from the International Photography Awards, Exposure One, the Julia Margaret Cameron Award, PX3, the Paris International Street Photo Awards, and the International Color Awards. Her photographs have been exhibited in the United States, France, Italy, Brazil, and India, as well as at the Xposure International Photography Awards in the United Arab Emirates.
Dutch photographer Ingrid Koedood focuses her work on people, cultural identities, and marginalized communities, often working in some of the world’s most remote regions. In his portraits, documentary language and artistic sensibility converge to convey the dignity, resilience, and uniqueness of his subjects. In 2017, he won the National Geographic Exodus Photo Contest, and his work has been exhibited in Milan, Paris, New York, Buenos Aires, and El Salvador. He is also a contributor to the international Atlas of Humanity project.
A Mexican documentary and street photographer, Pável Vélez focuses his work on identity, memory, and the diverse expressions of contemporary urban culture. Through a direct and immersive lens, he documents street life, communities, subcultures, and folk traditions in Mexico. His work has been published and exhibited internationally. In 2023, he won first place for Latin America at the Sony World Photography Awards, establishing himself as an emerging voice in Mexican documentary photography.
A Malaysian street photographer, Edmond Leong focuses his work on the daily life and cultural diversity of Kuala Lumpur, the city where he was born and raised. With an instinctive and engaged eye, he immerses himself in scenes to capture the people, gestures, and relationships within them. In 2023, he was a finalist in the Youth category of the Sony World Photography Awards and received an award in the Under-20 category at the Siena Awards. His work using the Leica M system was showcased by Leica Camera in the City of Diversity series, which explores the complex cultural identity of the Malaysian capital.
Pedro Patricio is a Lisbon-based photographer whose work blends street, portrait, documentary, and architectural photography, in both color and black and white. Influenced by cinema, painting, and literature, his work explores the rhythm of urban life and the poetry of ordinary moments, transforming the everyday into visual stories with a sense of wonder and independence. Author of Lisbon Stories (2024), Patricio has exhibited internationally across Europe and Asia and has been featured in Photographize publications including Street Photo Masters 2025, HUNDRED Best Selected Vol. 06, and Monochrome Masters 2026. His work is also regularly selected by Leica as Mastershots in LFI Gallery. His distinctive visual language and cinematic approach to storytelling reflect a strong commitment to contemporary photography.
A Chilean documentary photographer and former journalist, Ximena Hinzpeter focuses her work on social identities, marginality, and human dignity. Her direct and provocative style has earned her numerous international accolades: in 2021, Bruce Gilden selected her project My Own People for the Real People book and exhibition in Rome; in 2022, she was recognized at Portrait of Britain; and in 2023, she won a bronze award at the Tokyo International Foto Awards. The author of several photobooks, she has also received support from the Chilean national fund FONDART for her research and artistic creation.
Spanish documentary photographer and photojournalist Daniel Casares Román has been working professionally since 1991, dedicating himself to anthropological projects shot entirely on analog film. His images have been published by National Geographic, El País, La Vanguardia, ABC, and La Razón. His long-term project Color Humano, developed across communities and cultures on various continents, was the subject of a solo exhibition at the Leica Gallery in Porto. Alongside his fieldwork, he teaches photography at the University of Cádiz, combining editorial experience, documentary research, and education.
A New York-based photographer and curator, Robert Goldkind is an active figure in the Lower East Side’s independent art scene and the photography collective at ABC No Rio, a historic center dedicated to experimental art and alternative culture. His practice is rooted in analog street photography and extends to darkroom printing and cyanotype. He has exhibited and curated numerous collaborative projects, including Regress and Transit Tales, which were supported by New York City cultural institutions. In 2025, his work was included in the landmark exhibition ABC No Rio 45 Years.
An American street photographer and documentary filmmaker, Richard Sandler has chronicled New York’s social and cultural transformations for over forty years, building one of the most compelling visual archives of the city prior to 9/11. The author of the acclaimed monograph The Eyes of the City, he has received two fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts and a Guggenheim Fellowship for filmmaking. His photographs are held in the permanent collections of the Brooklyn Museum, the New York Public Library, the New-York Historical Society, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. He has also directed eight documentary films.
Arturo Cañedo is a Peruvian documentary photographer, educator, and essayist who explores the relationship between the individual, the urban environment, and social identity. Holding a degree in Economics, he also studied communication, painting, and drawing, developing a multidisciplinary approach to photography. Since 2010, he has collaborated with national and international non-governmental organizations on projects focused on the human condition and the landscape. His work has been exhibited in Peru, Italy, France, Germany, India, and Dubai; he has received awards in national competitions and has been a finalist in international photography showcases. He is the creator of the long-term project Downtown Lima.
Dutch street photographer Giedo van der Zwan is known for an up-close, immediate style characterized by the expressive use of color and flash. A finalist in the LensCulture Street Photography Awards in 2020 and 2023, he authored the book Pier to Pier, which also became a solo exhibition visited by over 200,000 people. His photographs have been exhibited at the Museum Panorama Mesdag in The Hague and Muzee Scheveningen. Frequently invited to serve as a juror, speaker, and lecturer at international festivals, he has sat on the juries of the Istanbul International Street Photography Festival and the Urban Photo Race Amsterdam.
Italian photographer and artist Alessandro Negrini, also known as Alex Nero Photo, develops a research focused on portraiture, the body, and identity, intertwining photography, performing arts, and visual communication. A graduate of DAMS at the University of Bologna, he holds a master’s degree in Performing Arts Management and a specialized degree in Management and Innovation of Cultural and Artistic Organizations. Author of numerous solo exhibitions, including Out of the Dark, Livin’ Colors, and Into the Mirror, he has published his work in the Modern Art Catalog by Editoriale Giorgio Mondadori and in the catalogs of the Milan Biennale and the Venice Pro Biennale. In 2022, he received the special recognition “Photographer of the Year”.
