Last month, the online magazine ‘The Independent Photographer’ organized its monthly contest around the theme ‘Visual Story’. On this occasion, the renowned Ed Kashi, a leading voice in the photojournalism world, who frequently lectures on a wide range of topics for arts institutions, universities, and professional organizations.

Represented by the prestigious VII agency, Ed Kashi uses photography to explore geopolitical and social issues that define our times. His work has been published and exhibited worldwide, receiving numerous awards and honors. Through his editorial assignments and personal projects, Kashi has published nine books and he is also a dedicated educator and mentor to photographers around the world.

After receiving and sorting photos from more than 50 different countries, this award was aiming to captivate and share stories with conviction.

Congratulations to the Winners & Finalists!

More info: independent-photo.com

Manel Quiros – 1st Prize

$1000 USD Prize – Manel Quiros

“From series: “Banishanta: Living in Solitude”⁠
Located on a small riverbank village in Mongla, southern Bangladesh, Banishanta is one of twenty legal brothels in Bangladesh. Shanta is only 9 years old. She was born on Banishanta Island after her mum Khadisha fell pregnant following an encounter with an unknown customer. Girls born under these conditions are often forced to follow the path of sex slavery, while boys end up working as drug dealers.⁠

David Klammer – 2nd Prize

$600 Prize – David Klammer

“Climat activists running into Garzweiler open brown coal mine – Germany”⁠

“Activists from ‘Ende Gelaende’, an NGO that creates spectacular civil disobedience actions against brown coal companies that are among the worst polluters of our atmosphere. On June 24, 2019, thousands of activists blocked coal railway tracks and stormed into the huge open coal mines of Garzweiler near the Neurath power plant in Grevenbroich, Germany.”

Javier Arcenillas – 3rd Prize

Image credits: www.javierarcenillas.com

$400 Prize – Javier Arcenillas

“Maras gang member praying” – San Francisco Gotera jail, El Salvador

From the long term project, “Latinoamerica”⁠ – This project describes the fear, anger, and impotence of victims amidst the daily terror of street gangs, murder and thievery in Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Colombia. The photographer wanted to document the heart of uncontrolled violence in Latin America, the social and political factors that aggressively reinforce that violence, as well as the determination to end it.

Clara Mokri – Finalist

“Westminster Dog Show 3” Westminster, UK

A young girl and her father backstage with their Great Dane. Part of a series of the 2019 Westminster Dog Show shot for TIME Magazine.

Dave Tacon – Finalist

“Fake Forest” – Chongqing, China, August 27, 2017

Workers are seen through an entrance in tempory fencing made to look like a forest scene at a construction site in Jiangbei District. Chongqing, which has a population of around 34 million, has been China’s fastest-growing city for 10 straight quarters.

Gianluca Attoli – Finalist

Image credits: www.gianlucaattoli.com

Untitled From series “The dream is always the same”

In ‘The dream is always the same’ the presence of a strong atmospheric element is the common trait. Fog, mist, snow, powerfully pictorial skyscapes: all of these aspects, individually or combined, make the main subject(s) “recede” for a moment, letting the mood and the atmosphere become the main and most immediate features of each shot.

Kristof Vadino – Finalist

“Jakarta Sinking” – Jakarta, Indonesia

Alex, 41, mussel fisherman, lives with his wife and two daughters in a cabin by the sea in North Jakarta. Directly opposite to his home in the future artificial islands of the ‘Garuda project’. In the background the ‘Bay Walk Mall’, a shopping mall and luxury apartments.

Kristof Huf – Finalist

“Roma in Svinia” – Slovakia

Svinia consists of two settlements of similar size in Slovakia one inhabited by Slovaks and the other Roma. The conditions the Roma are living there are appalling and the unemployment is almost one hundred percent.⁠

Leonardo Perugini – Finalist

“The girl and the flag” – Khan al Ahmar, East Jerusalem
⁠
A child plays hide-and-seek in front of the “School of Tyre”. The school was built by the Italian NGO “Vento di Terra” as a covered and secure place where children can study. The Bedouin community of Jahalin lives in the village, and just a few meters behind them an Israeli settlement is looming over.

Israel is highly opposing the life of the village impeding freedom of movement of its inhabitants and not offering them any kind of job. In 2018 Israel ordered the demolition of the village which, after, has been postponed.⁠

Yukiko Sugiyama – Finalist

Image credits: www.yukikosugiyama.com

“CRASH”

The “CRASH” series does not refer to incidents or accidents, instead, it represents the mutual relationship between nature and artifacts left behind by humans. These artifacts represent the culmination of technologies, abandoned to natural environments. These machines that have been thrown away after being judged not valuable anymore by people, could only surrender themselves to the environment.
Despite this dystopian world, similar to a sci-fi novel, this afterworld, provides a glimpse of a truth rarely seen. By discovering these artifacts, literally ‘foreign objects’ in the natural world, and usually found in very remote locations, I try to photograph them similar to human faces, appealing to the viewer’s humanity.

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