Images of Communication Photo Competition 2004

Village Phone, by Abir Abdullah, staff photographer at the DRIK Picture Library, Bangladesh, was judged the overall winner of the WACC photo competition 2004.

Abir Abdullah (Bangladesh) Overall winner. ‘Village Phone’ shows a project supported by Grameen Bank which sets up telecommunication businesses for women in rural Bangladesh. A woman uses a village phone to talk to her husband who has migrated to work in Kuwait. The judges felt it was a strong composition illustrating a compelling practical example of communication in development, with dimensions of overcoming the digital divide, poverty alleviation, gender inequality and migration.

Abdullah is a staff photographer at the Drik Picture Library in Bangladesh and has won a number of prestigious photographic awards as well as being widely exhibited and published. See more of Abdullah’s work on the DRIK website: http://www.drik.net

Articles on the Grameen Village Phone programme are available on the WACC site.

Social Victim, by Mukunda Bogati, Nepal, wona prize as Highly Commended

Mukunda Bogati (Nepal) Highly Commended. ‘Social Victim’ shows Dilbhadur BiswoKarma, a barefoot lower-caste blacksmith who is ploughing a field (for an upper-cast employer who pays him barely US$1.25 a day). He is shown being interviewed by Ramchandra Basyal for a programme on Radio Madan Pokhara examining caste-based social discrimination.

The judges praised the image for showing how community-based media can give a voice to the voiceless, and tackle issues of social justice.Bogati currently works as a photojournalist for  Zuma Press and has worked previously for Kantipur Publications and as a journalist on the Saptahik Tabloid weekly, as well as being widely published and exhibited.

Lightbox, by Trevor Davies, Zimbabwe, won a prize for Highly Commended

Trevor Davies (Zimbabwe) Highly Commended. “Lightbox” is a striking photograph of three young women working with slides and illuminated by a lightbox. The women are taking a course on gender and photojournalism aimed at challenging conventional stereotypes and using photography for a fairer representation of Africa and its development needs. The judges found the composition visually powerful and appealing, and recommended it for showing the enjoyment of the students in exploring and learning photography. Trevor Davies, is well known as a social documentary photographer working throughout southern and East Africa.

He first went to Africa from Wales, UK in 1983 in the context of work to support democratisation in Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe. He established SAMSO in 1993 and now works in the SADC region as a whole, as an expert presenter in photojournalism capacity building activities, as an advisor on communication and development strategies, as a media consultant and photographer, and as part of a network of political leaders, development practitioners, civil society and the media. See: http://www.samso.co.zw

A Picture of Grief, by Frederick Omondi, Kenya, won a prize as Highly Commended

Frederick Omondi (Kenya) Highly Commended
‘A picture of grief’, below right, shows that for cameraman Omuse, covering the funeral of the popular Kenyan Vice President Michael Wamalwa in September 2003 turned out to be more than just a professional assignment. Unable to hold back his grief, he broke down and wept as he recorded the sombre event. The panel was moved by the emotion of the photograph, showing the deep human involvement of journalists with the subjects they are often thought to cover impartially. Omondi currently works for the Daily Nation (http://www.nationmedia.com).

The panel of judges were sad not to be able to award prizes to many other excellent photographs, however a gallery of a selection of submissions to the competition can be seen here.