Before Becoming: Kseniia De Netto Photographs the Fragility of Change
At the World Grand Prix Photography Awards 2026 Autumn Season, Kseniia De Netto received the Gold Award in Black & White & Fine Art Photography for Before Becoming. The winning work offers a distinct perspective on its subject, bringing the photographer’s individual approach to the foreground.
The series explores transformation and return to origin. Stripped of identity, status, and protection, the human form merges with the landscape, existing in a space between disappearance and rebirth.
At some point in life, everyone goes through a moment when everything begins again. The life we once knew no longer exists, and the new one has yet to take shape. We find ourselves somewhere in between — in a fragile space of transition.
My photograph, Before Becoming, is about exactly that moment.
I never planned to create this image. I simply recognized that my model was living through this very stage of her life, and I suggested that we capture it.
What you see in the photograph is sadness, solitude, and the pure beauty of a person who, despite everything, still trusts herself, her own nature, and the world around her.
I deeply value the trust people place in me when they allow me to see them in such vulnerable moments.
And I am grateful for my 15 years of experience as a photographer, because they have taught me something essential: in moments like these, I don't need to think about camera settings, lighting, or composition. I simply adapt to what is happening, rather than interrupting or disturbing the emotion.
For me, technical skills should serve the moment, never control it.
Because I believe that what truly makes a photograph powerful is not perfection, but authenticity.
A photograph stays with you when you recognize something real in it.
And that is exactly what I always hope to capture.
Editor’s Note
Before Becoming approaches transition as an emotional state rather than a fixed narrative. Its focus on vulnerability and the relationship between figure and landscape allows the image to suggest both uncertainty and possibility.
De Netto's account of working with a model through a personal period of change also places trust at the centre of the photographic process. The result is an exploration of authenticity rather than technical display.
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About the World Grand Prix Photography Awards
The World Grand Prix Photography Awards (WGPPA) is an international photography competition recognising creative achievement across photographic disciplines. Its winning works and selected editorial interviews, published through WODACC, offer photographers opportunities to present both their images and the ideas behind them to a wider audience. For emerging and established photographers considering international awards, these published winner stories provide concrete examples of how creative work can be showcased beyond the award announcement.
Explore the World Grand Prix Photography Awards: https://www.wgppa.com/
