First Prize: Avijit Ghosh

Women building a sustainable future

© Avijit Ghosh

Author Name: Avijit Ghosh

Author Location: Kolkata, India

Author Background: I, Avijit Ghosh, am a 28-year-old freelance photojournalist based in Kolkata. My work mostly focuses on the Socio-environmental impact of climate change and humanitarian issues. After my bachelor degree, I pursued my diploma in Social Work and also in Photography. Later worked with a local newspaper. Now I work with SOPA Images as a contributor photographer which distributes my photographs through agencies like Getty Images and AP. Besides the daily news, I also work on my personal projects. My works have been published in news sites like VICE, BBC, Huffington Post, CNN, Bloomberg, WSJ and many others. I have won photo competitions from organization like the UN, UNESCO, Ramsar Convention and some of my works are also exhibited globally.

Submission Statement: In the last decade, India has witnessed severe weather, rise in sea level, heat waves and unpredictable rains because of climate change. A country that holds 1.2 billion people, face massive challenges to deal with these catastrophic events. Sundarbans delta is already witnessing the largest climate migration in South Asia. To deal with this situation we have to adopt sustainable lifestyles following the UN SDG goals. To achieve this goal, women are playing a crucial role in India. They not only help to change the mindset of future generations to adopt a sustainable lifestyle but also participate in sustainable economy proving their importance in every sphere. The effort they contribute in building a better sustainable world is priceless. These series of photographs highlights women participation in sustainable development sectors in different parts of West Bengal, India.

Comments from the judges:

Karen Dias: “Good reportage on the lives of working women and interesting juxtapositions in settings and locations in this series.”

Katie Jett Walls: “This series appealed to me through the inclusion of the work environments in each portrait, as well as women working collectively in most of the scenes. The environments all had a rhythm and texture to them that spoke of the photographer's consistent visual style and editorial skill.”

Second Prize: Carla Rhodes

Beautiful Scavengers: Saving Endangered Greater Adjutants

© Carla Rhodes

Author Name: Carla Rhodes

Author Location: Woodstock, NY, United States

Author Background: Carla Rhodes is a wildlife conservation photographer. Formerly a ventriloquist, she brings a plethora of unique skills to her new career. Photographing with passion and a sense of humor, her published work includes pieces for The New York Times, bioGraphic and Smithsonian Magazine. Ultimately, she aspires for her photographs to educate viewers while inspiring positive change. You can see more of her work at www.carlarhodes.com.

Submission Statement: Greater Adjutants are the most endangered storks on our planet. Towering at 5 feet tall with a wingspan of 8 feet, less than 1,200 of these beautiful scavengers are left in existence. The global stronghold of an estimated 950 Greater Adjutants resides in Assam, India. Known locally as Hargila (bone-swallower), Greater Adjutants have struggled to overcome a negative reputation that is saddled with superstition. They scavenge in the Boragaon landfill, which encroaches on Deepor Beel, a Ramsar-protected wetland. Greater Adjutants nest in large trees in the nearby villages of the Kamrup District. Biologist Purnima Devi Barman has dedicated her life to leading an inspiring and innovative conservation movement to save Greater Adjutants. Founder of the Hargila Army, a local all-female grassroots volunteer conservation effort, Barman and her army of women protect nesting trees, save fallen birds, and educate the Assamese community on the importance of these rare scavengers. Cultivating personal relationships with villagers is a key component of Barman’s successful conservation model. Since efforts began in 2010, nesting trees have not been cut down locally due to resident villagers of the Kamrup District protecting the Greater Adjutant’s nesting trees, which are often located in their own backyards. Nests have grown from 28 to more than 200 due to their combined conservation efforts.

RARE SCAVENGERS

Endangered Greater Adjutants gather atop the towering garbage located in the Boragaon landfill, Guwahati, India on February 24, 2020. The landfill has the largest year-round concentration of Greater Adjutant storks in the world. Attracting a variety of scavenger species and encroaching upon Deepor Beel wetland, the landfill causes pollution, habitat destruction and wildlife deaths through toxic seepage. Once covering 4,000ha, the wetland has shrunk to an alarming 500ha. Out of the world’s 19 species of storks, the Greater Adjutant is the rarest and most endangered.The Zoological Society of London classified the bird as an EDGE species in 2014, meaning it is close to extinction. In 2016, the International Union for Conservation of Nature estimated only 800-1200 individuals were left, firmly cementing their status as endangered with a decreasing population.

CAMPAIGNING FOR HARGILA

Biologist and founder of the Hargila Army Purnima Devi Barman is pictured distributing informational Greater Adjutant posters to the local community in Kamrup District, Assam, India. Barman regularly educates and empowers the Assamese community on the importance of endangered Greater Adjutants which are known locally as Hargila (bone swallower). Cultivating personal relationships with villagers and raising awareness are a key component to Barman’s successful conservation model, especially since many residents have Greater Adjutant nesting trees in their backyards.

EDUCATING THE FUTURE

Purnima Devi Barman is pictured presenting an educational program on endangered Greater Adjutants at a school located in the Kamrup District, Assam, India. She’s holding a textile woven by the Hargila Army, which features a Greater Adjutant design. This unique motif is now sewn and weaved into traditional textiles such as mekhala chadar and gamosas. Educational programs at local schools are a key part of Barman’s conservation efforts. If students are taught at a young age to love and respect Greater Adjutants, the species will have allies in the future. Visits are often a surprise, with students on the edge of hysterical elation at the appearance of “Hargila Baideo” – which Barman is called locally, translating to “elder sister of Greater Adjutants.”

CONNECTION THROUGH AWARENESS

Migrant rag pickers live and sort garbage in the Boragaon landfill where a large population of Greater Adjutants scavenge beside them. Barman presented informational posters, coloring pages and food to the people living and working in the sprawling landfill with the goal of raising awareness for the Greater Adjutants and bringing joy. A young boy who lives and works in the landfill is pictured in the foreground laughing while trying on a Greater Adjutant paper mache headdress. Guwahati, Assam, India.

Beautiful Scavenger

An endangered Greater Adjutant is pictured in the Boragaon landfill located in Guwahati, Assam India. The landfill has the largest year-round concentration of Greater Adjutant storks in the world. Out of the world’s 19 species of storks, the Greater Adjutant is the rarest and most endangered.The Zoological Society of London classified the bird as an EDGE species in 2014, meaning it is close to extinction. In 2016, the International Union for Conservation of Nature estimated only 800-1200 individuals were left, firmly cementing their status as endangered with a decreasing population.

Comments from the judges:

Karen Dias: “Lovely reportage about a very important story.”

Katie Jett Walls: “I appreciate the photographer's abilty to create a beautiful portrait of a bird that lives in this blighted environment. Solid storytelling photographs were accompanied by rich captions that indicate a dedication to understand both the bird and the work of those who are determined to protect it.”

Third Prize: Karina Bikbulatova

Mirror. Women building a sustainable future

© Karina Bikbulatova

Author Name: Karina Bikbulatova

Author Location: Moscow, Russian Federation

Author Background: My name is Karina Bikbulatova. I was born in 1995 in Russia, in the city of Ufa. In 2017, I graduated from the Moscow University of Culture, where I studied at the course of photography. I am also a finalist and winner of many international photography competitions and awards.I started my studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence in 2017. In 2020, I returned to Russia to translate new ideas into creativity

Submission Statement: Rose was born into a Muslim family, she had a kind heart and many scars. Her father often beat her. She had no mirrors, she hated her reflection. Waking up early in the morning Rose used to lie in the bed for hours because she was afraid to move and wake her sister up. She knew every crack and dot in the ceiling. Her sister could beat her without any fault. The fear of being in Rose's place prevailed in her, and she chose to be strong and cruel, like their father was. Even a child can step on the dark side if he constantly lives in darkness, without knowing kindness. And only a few manage to keep the Light inside themselves. Even when it seems that there is no light, it is always there. Because we create the Light within ourselves.

Comments from the judges:

Karen Dias: “Love the experimental approach, composition and settings in this series. Enjoyed the starkness and minimalism in the portraiture.”

Katie Jett Walls: “Beautful and engaging conceptualizations of the emotional life of the subject - arresting compositions with unsettling elements that attest to the precariousness of Rosa's life.”

Molly Roberts: “I was moved by the strong storytelling of this series. The use of black and white, the conceptual constuctions and the stark compositions added to the power of the overall series.”

Honorable Mention: Alexander Gouletas

Activists

© Alexander Gouletas

Author Name: Alexander Gouletas

Author Location: Chicago, IL, United States

Author Background: I am a commercial portrait photographer that became interested in reportage work after the Laquan McDonald shooting scandal of 2015. I wanted to use my abilities to subvert a misrepresented narrative, to show beauty where we were told there was a broad, benign, and bleak struggle for equity.

My goal is to represent my city in a compelling way. I want to make work that represents a full spectrum of emotion. The joy and the sorrow, the humility and the aggrandizement, the contempt, the fear, the exuberance.

I strive to make good work that doesn't redact from the message. The subjects, and the people that are attached to them deserve the attention, care and nuance of an artist and not a quick headline. I use my skill to elevate rather than oppress.

As I’ve covered police reform, I’ve begun to see how this affected everything from the school to prison pipeline, workers rights, gender, prison reform, free speech, media representation and systemic oppression.

Being a portrait photographer has impacted my journalism work, and being a journalist has informed my professional career. Identity can be an action of protest; there are subtler forms of protest alive in the joy and rage of life; I strive to show this subtle protest through embracing rather than minimizing the people I am honored enough to photograph.

Submission Statement:

Aislinn Pulley

“I was just amazed at the incredible injustice and brutality,” Black Lives Matter Chicago co-founder Aislinn Pulley.

Jeanette Taylor

“And I was, like,’No. No. No. I’m not moving again,’” Taylor said. “And I just got the will to stand up and fight. And the more I started to stand up in these meetings, the more people would come up to me after the meetings, like, ‘You right. You right.’” Ald. Jeanette Taylor 20th ward Chicago Quote from the 'Black Folks Can’t Get No Rest'

DeCarri Robinson

DeCarri Robinson organizer of the Stripper Strike Chicago demonstration. Of Those impacted Economically by Covid-19. Sex workers have no worker protection. “Our income is taxed and we have to pay the house in order to work, but we don’t benefit from it,” Robinson said. “All we got when things shut down was a text message saying that we were out of a job.” “We’re fighting for the human rights that you are granted at every place you work,” Robinson said. “Why is it okay for me to be assaulted?” DeCarri Robinson This image appeared in the Triibe "Who do we mean when we say ‘Black Lives Matter?’

Zola Chatman

Activist Zola Chatman in Her Home “Whiteness in America, that system thrives on Black people — Black women, the identities of Black women and Black trans women as well — being oppressed and marginalized to the point where they are considered worthless, for a lack of better words,” “Although there may be white allies who voiced a desire to make those changes, or voiced a desire to create spaces for those things to be overthrown or revolutionized, no white person wants to give us their power in a way that completely lets that system be flipped on its head,”

Comments from the judges:

Karen Dias: “Striking portraits and captions in this series.”

Katie Jett Walls: “Strong portrait skills, especially the two stand-out portraits of Ms. Chatman and Ms. Robinson. I appreciate this approach to documenting a community, because captivating portraits have the power to change perceptions. These portraits (and the strong captions accompanying them) make me want to know these women.”

Honorable Mention: Elena Vega

Mujeres en la lucha (Women in the fight)

© Elena Vega

Author Name: Elena Vega

Author Location: México City , México

Author Background: I have a PhD in Social and Political Sciences. I am currently a university professor, collaborating in a private university and in a public university teaching subjects on education and public policy. I have been interested in black and white photography for years and I consider myself an amateur of this activity since my youth. In 2018, I received the Margaret McNamara grant with which I conducted research on young women, pregnancy and education.

Submission Statement: This work is part of a photographic series that seeks to reflect the diversity of women and their constant struggle to be heard, to be seen as different and at the same time independent. My work is in monochrome since I conceive photographs in this format as timeless, that is, I see these women in the past, in the present and in the future, fighting for themselves.

Comments from the judges:

Karen Dias: “I enjoyed the movement, expressions and moments of solidarity in these images.”

Katie Jett Walls: ”Solid reportage images with appealing subjects in a meaningful setting.”

Honorable Mention: Vladimir Golikov

Mother’s morning

© Vladimir Golikov

Author Name: Vladimir Golikov

Author Location: Yaroslavl, Russian Federation

Author Background: Photographer shooting in different styles. I give preference to staged photography and reportage.

Submission Statement: Every day she wakes up first...

Morning

A single mother's morning.

Wake up

A single mother's morning

Breakfast

A single mother's morning

Comments from the judges:

Karen Dias: “Beautiful colors and composition, draws you in and encourages a lot of questions and curiosity.”

Katie Jett Walls: “I think this was a fantastic and well executed concept. The compositions are strong, I feel a sense of controlled chaos - lots of movement but everything makes sense. Outstanding color sense throughout.”