About

Mitar Simikić is a documentary photographer from Bosnia and Herzegovina. He is affiliated with VII Photo through the VII Mentor Program. Mitar’s work has been awarded the VID Grant Financial Prize, Sarajevo Photography Award and the Rovinj Photodays. Additionally, his projects were recognized by The Everyday Project Grants, Felix Schoeller Photo Award, Kranj Photo Fest, Oko Photo Festival Bohinj, Kolga Tbilisi Photo and Serbia Press Photo. Mitar participated in the VII Masterclass as the VII Academy Scholarship Recipient and Magnum Scholarship Inside>>Out. His work has been featured in numerous publications around the world and was showcased at various festivals and exhibitions. Simikić is an assistant professor at the Department of Photography of The Academy of Arts in Novi Sad, Serbia.

Selected Awards/Grants

2025 – Magnum scholarships Inside>>Out, On Portraiture: A photography workshop Olivia Arthur, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
2025 – OKO Foto Festival Bohinj, finalist, Bohinj, Slovenia
2025 – Sarajevo Pohotography Festival, selected finalist, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
2025 – Rovinj Photodays Grand Prix winner, 1^st prize in the Landscape category, and 2^nd prize in the portrait category.
2024 – PRESS PHOTO SERBIA, award in the category of reportage people, for the reportage “Life Recycling” Belgrade, Serbia
2023/2024 – VII Mentor program, VII Foundation.
2023 – Goethe Institut BiH, selectet artist for project “PRESENT PAST”.
2023 – THE EVERYDAY PROJECTS GRANT, finalist with project “Mila”.
2023 – Selected for Hamburg Portfolio Review.
2023 – Sarajevo Pohotography Award, 1^st place in Documentary category, project “Mila”. 2023 – The Kranj Foto Fest’s Shortlisted artist, Open Call HUMAN — NATURE .
2023 – Felix Schoeller Photo Award, portrait shortlisted works with project “Mila”.
2022/2023 – VII Masterclass in Arles, selected as VII Academy Scholarship Recipient. 2022 – Winners VID Grant Financial Prize, with project “Mila”.
2022 – The Kranj Foto Fest’s Shortlisted artiist, Open Call HOME: a State of Transition. 2022 – Selected finalist for Sarajevo Pohotography Award in Documentary and Portrait category, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
2020 – Kolga Award finalist for the project “Šarac” (documentary category) | Kolga Tiblisi Photo.
2020 – BOLD Academy “Civic Engagement Workshop” support of the US Embassy.
2018 – Joop Swart Masterclass nominee | World Press Photo Academy.
2018 – Voice of Humanity and Hope (VOHH) International Foto Fest winner
(honorable mention) for the project “Šarac”. Chittagong, Bangladesh.
2017/2018 – Selected as one of 8 photographers in BiH to participate in the project
“REFEST Images & Words on Refugee Routes“, an Interdisciplinary Approach to Expand Festivals’ Audiences” | Organ Vida International Photography Festival.
2017 – International Photography Grant nominee (conceptual category) | International Photography Magazine.
2015 – BiH winner of ” Different Worlds – Young Contemporary Photography from SouthEast Europe”. Work exhibited at Kino Siska in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
2015 – Selected for Noor-Nikon Masterclass in Belgrade, Serbia with Noor mentors: Andrea Bruce, Stanley Greene and Kadir van Lohuizen.
2014 – Finalist of the 6^th International Photography Festival Organ Vida, Zagreb, Croatia –theme “Reflection”.
2014 – 1^st plase winner (photo series) at the PDP Creative Media Conference Novi Sad, Serbia.
2012 – Workshop organized by the British Council and Goethe Institute in Bosnia and Herzegovina under the supervision of lecturers and members of the jury, Paul Lowe (Great Britain) and Andy Spyra (Germany), and won praise in the contest “Photo-story of the BiH future”.

SOLO Exhibitions

2023 – Gallery F64, Podgorica, Montenegro.
2023 – SANU, Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, branch in Novi Sad, Mitar Simikić – Ugljevik, Novi Sad, Serbia.
2021 – The ARTGET Gallery, Ivana Tomanović presents Mitar Simikić – Ugljevik, Belgrade, Serbia.

SELECTED Group Exhibitions

2025 – MMC – Multimedia Cente, Rovinj Phorodays, Rovinj, Croatia
2025 – Photo Vogue Festival, visual presentation, Square Mile at the invitation of VII Foundation, Milan, Italy
2025 – Goethe Institute ALL INCLUSIVE, group exhibition “Every Day Again”, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
2024 – Goethe Institut BiH, exibition “PRESENT PAST”, Rijeka, Croatia.
2024 – Contempl’Art, LES BALKANNES, Paris, France.
2023 – Goethe Institut BiH, exibition “PRESENT PAST”, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
2023 – FREELENS Gallery, HPR exhibition opening, Hamburg, Germany.
2023 – Public Space Exhibition as part of Hamburg portfolio reviwe, Platz der Republik – Altonaer Museum, Hamburg, Germany.
2023 – Grenze – Arsenali Fotografici Festival, Bastiona delle Maddalene, Verona, Italy. 2023 – The Kranj Foto Fest’s HUMAN — NATURE, Kranj, Slovenia.
2023 – Sarajevo Pohotography Award at Vijecnica, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. 2022 – The Kranj Foto Fest’s HOME: a State of Transition, Kranj, Slovenia.
2022 – Sarajevo Pohotography Award at Vijecnica, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. 2015 – ” Different Worlds – Y oung Contemporary Photography from SouthEast Europe” , Kino Siska in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
2014 – Festival Organ Vida, Zagreb, Croatia Education 2023 – VII Academy Level 3 program for Narrative and Documentary Practice, which includes a month-long residency in Arles, France.
2022 – VII Academy Level 2 for emerging photographers in Photojournalism and Documentary storytelling with Stefano De Luigi.
2019/2020 – The VII Academy Sarajevo seminar for Narrative and Documentary Practice dedicated to young professional photographers from the wider Balkan region. Instructors Dr Paul Lowe and Ziyah Gafic.
2013 – “Focusing democracy – documentary photography”, organized by the Youth Center CK13, Novi Sad, Serbia with mentors Nemanja Pancic and Marko Risovic, from the group Kamarades.
2012 – 2014 Master’s studies at the Academy of Art, Art direction, direction Photography, Novi Sad, Serbia.
2006 – 2011 SPU, Academy of Arts, Department of Graphic Design, Bijeljina, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

mitarsimikic8@gmail.com