Mikel Cía wins the V Contest

The image, which receives a first-prize of 3.000 euro, captures the moment when a girl leaps from the fountain in the Navarrería into the waiting arms of a crowd of men below in a photo taken soon after the Chupinazo 2011 had opened the fiestas.

"Salto al brazío" -bungee jumping-, is the title given to the photo taken by Mikel Cía, and which has been awarded first prize in this V Sanfermin Erotic Photo Competition which is annually organized by Kukuxumusu and Playboy. The image, which receives a first-prize of 3.000 euro, captures the moment when a girl leaps from the fountain in the Navarrería into the waiting arms of a crowd of men below in a photo taken soon after the Chupinazo 2011 had opened the fiestas. Mikel Urmeneta, who formed the jury along with José María Sanchón - editor of Playboy Magazine-, points out that the image captured by Mikel Cía "Is a suggestive photo, aesthetic and festive, which radiates joy and which is composed of the two key elements that this competition calls for: A blending of Erotism and Sanfermin". This photo was declared the winner from a total number of 262 entries sent in - 49 more than in 2010 and which sets a new record of entries for this competition. The outcome was not easy to decide amid the quality of the selected finalists. (see the list of contestans)

Mikel Cía received the news directly from Gonzalo Domínguez de Bidaurreta, one of the founder members of Kukuxumusu. Mikel Cía is 38 years old and is a local boy from Pamplona. He works as a photographer during the Sanfermin fiestas each year for the Gran Angular agency. During the rest of the year he is a state worker for the Government of Navarra. Cía managed to capture the winning snapshot when he went to the fountain in the Navarrería on the 6th of July, shortly after the Chupinazo rocket had been set off to open the 2011 fiestas. The winning photographer habitually enters for this competition and he was selected as a finalist in 2009.

The Background to the winning image
It was just twenty five past one in the early afternoon of the 6th of July, 2011. Mikel Cía was just about to move off after watching several people leaping from the top of the fountain into the arms of the crowd below. However, just as he was about to leave, he noticed a girl was now climbing up to take a leap and he decided to wait. Cía decided to get up on the base of the fountain to get a higher view, risking getting a shower of sangria and cheap champagne thrown at him from the raucous crowd around the fountain. "I was trying to get a contrast in the image with that of the faces of the crowd below ready and waiting for the person to jump. The winning image was the most exact of the several images I shot and it does not have any kind of digital retouching", Mikel Cía stressed.

The winning image of the 2011 Erotic Photo Competition speaks for itself, but Mikel Urmeneta as a member of the jury manages to clarify some of the qualities that can be appreciated in the photo when he stresses "That the composition of the photo is just right and full of details. That sense of collective festive craziness comes across as well as the sense of fun and a suggestion of some Sanfermin surrealism. It has been taken at the Navarrería Fountain, where, many years ago now, some Australian tourists started this ritual of leaping from the top of the fountain and this event has now become ingrained into the Sanfermin fiestas. It's curious and at the same time interesting that the spectacular element in the snapshot does not take away even a whit from the erotic element and the eye moves inevitably from the endless legs of the girl who, valiantly or naively, leaps into the firm arms of the ordered group of men below."

Meanwhile, Mikel Cía explains that "The spectactor is placed at the same point of view as the person who is taking the photo, where unconsciously the gaze is directed at the legs of the girl. The rest of the actors in the image, the real protagonists, are centered on their faces, on the crowd, on the jump and a sense of confidence is established between the author and the viewers".

July, 2012 will see the initiation of the VI Sanfermin Erotic Photography Competition and a new challenge will be set for all those who are looking for the very best images from the fiestas. All the best images are available at Sanfermin.com and at Playboy.es

Download winner image "Salto al brazío" -bungee jumping- Here
Download Photo award Here
Download 32 finals competition images Here