The WACC Photographic Competition 2009 / Discuss

Sean Hawkey    says:

WACC is pleased to announce that its fifth photographic competition, run this year on the popular photo website Flickr, has been judged. More than 700 photographers from all over the world registered to participate.

The volume and quality of this year's entries show that this year’s theme of Women and Communication is part of the thematic concerns of communicators across the world.

WACC congratulates all the entrants and thanks them for their submissions.

After much deliberation a final list of winners was announced by the Jury on Monday 12 May:


First Prize: Burqua interview.
Photographer Leslie Knott.
Caption: A journalist in Maimana, Afghanistan conducts an interview for her program on agriculture on Radio Quyaash, an independent women-managed radio station.

Jury’s comments: this image visually challenges our preconceptions about the power and position of women in Afghanistan. While the burqua is normally presented to us as a symbol of oppression of women, the remainder of the picture speaks to us of the empowerment of women. The photo shows us something we don’t expect to see, and leaves us to reconcile the striking juxtaposition. The image also engages us in a broad spectrum of issues including women’s rights, communication rights, poverty, development and religion. The photo is at once a good visual argument for the use of communication by women, especially in situations of conflict and abysmal treatment of women, and at the same time it is evidence of our own shallow understanding, or even misreading, of situations that are presented as black and white.

Commendations


Tibet Uprising Day
Photographer: sirensongs
Caption: About a 1000 people, including elderly Tibetans and local Indian school children, braved the cold rain and winds to commemorate March 10, Tibet Uprising Day. Dharamsala, HP. A few minute later, this lady started crying...but I couldn't bring myself to photograph her doing so. This March 10 2007 was noteable for being the first at which several members of Indian Parliament and other Indian politicians came to address the crowd. (It is usually considered politically unpopular for them to do so.)


Playing with a camara
Photographer: Boaz rottem
Caption: The Loike area where the Padaung Tribe lives. Some of the Padaung escaped to Thailand where they live today. The old ladies were amazed with the camera!


Central Americans protest free trade treaty
Photographer: Paul Jeffrey
Caption: Free trade agreements have been resisted by many church leaders and activists in the Third World. Here a group of protestors speaks out against CAFTA during a demonstration in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.


Dejar marca en la ciudad (leaving a mark in the city)
Photographer: Flora G
Caption: The stencil is on the ways women’s groups raise awareness about problems that affect them: violence, sexual and reproductive rights amongst others. In this photo the stencil says: “when a woman says no, it means no”. Taken during a demonstration of women’s movements in Buenos Aires, Argentina, 8 March 2008.


Woman of Courage : Mariya
Photographer: Mohamed Abdulla Shafeeg
Caption: Maldives Woman Spearheads Reform, Pushes for Women’s Rights
Originally posted at 7:10AM, 14 May 2008 PDT (permalink)
Sean Hawkey edited this topic 49 months ago.