Pictorial expression

Red Bull Tribalquest is a competition between eight groups of three whose challenge it was to shoot the perfect skiing or snowboarding photo in the Swiss mountains - under uncomfortable time pressure and in the knowledge that the competition would be scrutinising their efforts.

Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing here? Philosophical questions such as these were posed at Red Bull Tribalquest - and met with much more inspired responses than "A creative wintersport fanatic", "In Nendaz (Switzerland)" or "Taking part in a way-out photo competition": in the form of remarkable photographic art whose subject matter was the Who, Where and What of the ski and snowboard scene.

Anthropological investigation of a very curious folk

The challenge which the 24 participants were set was much easier said than done: each team - comprising a photographer, a skier and a snowboarder - had four days to shoot the most creative photos they could in the Swiss mountains surrounding Nendaz. Whilst trying to capture the lifestyle of the skier and snowboarder - a tribe we still know little about - the teams had to ensure they fell into one of three categories.

Judged by the competition

The most creative, humorous, spectacular, that is to say the best photos were presented and debuted on a big screen in the centre Nendaz on the last day: to find a ski and snowboard winner in each of the categories, each team had to grade all of the photos submitted - apart from their own - on a scale of 1 (excellent) to 6 (poor).

Six prizes, one double-winner

The best clickers were the German team: photographer Klaus Polzer and his partners André Kuhlmann and Nico Zacek bagged two prizes in the categories "Where am I?" and "What am I doing here?". The remaining prize-winners, who each received prize money of CHF 2,000, came from Great Britain, Switzerland, the USA and Austria.

Red Bull Tribalquest 2008 winners:

Who am I?

Nathan Gallagher (photographer, GBR), Paddy Graham (skier, GBR)

Marcel Lämmerhirt (photographer, GER), Andy Lehmann (snowboarder, GER)

Where am I?

Ruedi Flück (photographer, SUI), Nicolas Vuignier (skier, SUI)

Klaus Polzer (photographer, GER), André Kuhlmann (snowboarder, GER)

What am I doing here?

Klaus Polzer (photographer, GER), Nico Zacek (skier, GER)