2007 Photoshare Photo Contest Winners

 *New - 2008 Photoshare Wall Calendar* | View Slide Show of the 2007 Winners

Best of Show | Photoshare Image of the Year | Outstanding Photoshare Contributor | Best of Category | Honorable Mention | Contest Judges

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 11, 2008

Photo from Philippines Honored in 5th Annual Photoshare
Photo Contest Sponsored By Hopkins' INFO Project

 

BALTIMORE - A striking black and white image of a Filipino farmer set against a background of rice fields won 1st Place/Best of Show at the 5th Annual Photoshare Photo Contest. Sam De Leon submitted the winning photo in the competition sponsored by The INFO Project at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Center for Communication Programs (CCP).

The INFO Project is a reproductive health knowledge-sharing resource supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). INFO's Photoshare service helps international non-profits communicate health and development issues through photography. By facilitating photo sharing among colleagues in international development, Photoshare has become a leading source for editorial development photography. The Photoshare collection, consisting primarily of photos taken by public health professionals in the field, contains thousands of images illustrating the realities of urban and rural life in developing countries, as well as global efforts to improve and save lives, www.photoshare.org.

Open to amateurs and professionals alike, the contest drew interest from around the globe, including more than 347 participants who submitted more than 1,148 photos shot in 92 different countries.

 

2007 Photoshare Photo Contest Winners

 

Best of Show

1st Place

Samuel De Leon A farmer from the Central Luzon region of the Philippines, where the plains are most suitable for cultivation of rice, the staple food of Filipinos. Judges' Comment: A wonderful image and a beautiful portrait of an agricultural person and way of life. Enjoyable black and white quality. Great detail, composition and depth with the rice fields in the background. Perfect lighting. This picture draws me in and moves me.

2nd Place
	Julius Peter Obligacion A family in the Philippines lies under a bed net. The mosquito net, or "kulambo" in Pilipino, is widely used for malaria prevention in the rural areas of the Philippines. Judges' Comment: A beautiful and intimate image. It illustrates the subject perfectly! Well lit and composed. With the mosquito net clearly in front, it tells a story and stands alone.

3rd Place

Paul Jeffrey Residents of the Khamsadegaig camp for internally displaced families in West Darfur, Sudan, look down a well they helped construct with assistance from ACT-Caritas, which supports families in Darfur with a variety of services, including potable water, sanitation, and income-generating opportunities. Judges' Comment: Great and striking image! Very creative picture making! In the most unique way it shows an entire community who depends on this well for survival. Great use of design, color, composition, contrast and lighting.

 

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Photoshare Image of the Year

Selected by Photoshare Staff

Anna Gerrard Local women in Magu, Tanzania. These women have empowered themselves through working together with other women to breed organic chickens and grow specialty mushrooms for sale at regional markets. Photoshare Staff Comments: Capturing an inspirational story of empowerment, this image serves as a reminder of the important role that economic development plays in improving health and saving lives. Submitted in last year’s contest, Gerrard’s photo has quickly been requested six times by a variety of international organizations. This engaging portrait poignantly captures a message of empowerment and documents local efforts to expand economic opportunity.

 

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Outstanding Photoshare Contributor

Selected by Photoshare Staff

See all of Dr. Rajal Thaker's Photos

Dr. Rajal Thaker Dr. Rajal Thaker answers questions on HIV/AIDS at the School Adolescent Education Program (SAEP) for the school children of Dascroi Taluka near Ahmedabad, India. The program was organized by the International Centre for Entrepreneurship and Career Development (ICECD) in Ahmedabad. Photoshare Staff Comments: Dr. Rajal Thaker is an enthusiastic photographer committed to documenting health and development in India. An experienced educator, Dr. Thaker has presented numerous lectures on adolescent reproductive health and HIV/AIDS awareness, as well as leading training programs for traditional birth attendants. In 2007, Dr. Thaker contributed nearly 200 images, including detailed captions and notes. Dr. Thaker's images are an invaluable addition to the Photoshare collection; we are inspired by her reach and desire to communicate local issues through photography.

 

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Best of Category

Family Planning & Reproductive Health

Paul Jeffrey A health provider examines a pregnant woman in Um Labassa, Sudan. Prenatal care is an important part of the mission of this primary health care and nutrition center for displaced families sponsored by the ACT-Caritas Darfur Emergency Response. Judges’ Comment: A very unique and striking image. Well composed with good use of lighting, detail, color and composition. It tells a story about family planning.

HIV/AIDS

Felix Masi Silas watches his bedridden grandmother, Domitila, at their tiny ramshackle house in the sprawling slum of Kibera in Nairobi, Kenya. Domitila cared for Silas after he was orphaned by AIDS and he returns the favor by nursing her while she is sick. Judges' Comment: This image tells a very powerful story. It shows the scope of the problem of AIDS as it reveals the abject poverty of those affected in Africa. Very compelling with good use of lighting.

Environment
	Joydeep Mukherjee Coal smoke billows from a mountain train in India. Judges’ Comment: A very revealing image. Well composed and draws me into the details, the woman with child, etc. This photo makes me feel for anyone who must live around such conditions. It should be seen.

Agricultural & Economic Development

Samuel De Leon A farmer from the Central Luzon region of the Philippines, where the plains are most suitable for cultivation of rice, the staple food of Filipinos. Judges’ Comment: A wonderful image and a beautiful portrait of an agricultural person and way of life. Enjoyable black and white quality. Great detail, composition and depth with the rice fields in the background. Perfect lighting. This picture draws me in and moves me.

Democracy & Governance

Sumaryanto Bronto Papuan students wearing the colors of banned Morning Star separatists in Yogyakarta, Java, Indonesia, shout slogans while marking the anniversary of the failed efforts by Papuan tribal chiefs to declare independence from Dutch colonial rule in 1961. Indonesia took over West Papua from the Dutch in 1963, and a small, poorly armed separatist movement has battled Indonesian rule ever since. Judges’ Comment: This image captures the moment and jumps right off the page. Well composed, great subject matter, strong emotion!! Tells me a story without needing text.

Humanitarian Assistance

Doug Mercado Workers at the warehouse of the United Nations World Food Programme in Geneina, Darfur, build a stack of food aid sent to support the region's 2 million internally displaced persons and other war-affected populations. In addition to leading to the deaths of hundreds of thousands, the conflict in Darfur has also disrupted traditional livelihoods throughout the region, forcing households to exploit a number of coping mechanisms, including international food aid, to meet basic needs. Judges' Comment: It is refreshing to see this subject from a unique and fresh perspective. Super composition. It is interesting to view and it tells a story. Very compelling image!

Global Health
	Julius Peter Obligacion A family in the Philippines lies under a bed net. The mosquito net, or "kulambo" in Pilipino, is widely used for malaria prevention in the rural areas of the Philippines. Judges' Comment: A beautiful and intimate image. It illustrates the subject perfectly! Well lit and composed. With the mosquito net clearly in front, it tells a story and stands alone.

Human Interest

Paul Jeffrey Residents of the Khamsadegaig camp for internally displaced families in West Darfur, Sudan, look down a well they helped construct with assistance from ACT-Caritas, which supports families in Darfur with a variety of services, including potable water, sanitation, and income-generating opportunities. Judges' Comment: Great and striking image! Very creative picture making! In the most unique way it shows an entire community who depends on this well for survival. Great use of design, color, composition, contrast and lighting.

 

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Honorable Mention

Family Planning and Reproductive Health
	Pradeep Tewari A health worker educates rural women on sexually transmitted diseases and reproductive and sexual health at a health awareness camp organized by the Sports and Welfare Club and the Teen Club of Khuda Lahora village, India. The clubs are affiliated with Nehru Yuvak Kender (Ministry of Youth, Welfare, and Sports) in Chandigarh.

HIV/AIDS
	Danny Chiyesu/Fotodan Miners in Chingola, Zambia, receive HIV/AIDS counseling at work. -

Environment
	Prakash Hatvalne A man shades himself from the sun with an umbrella as he carries drinking water across the dry bed of the Upper Lake in Bhopal, India.

Agricultural and Economic Development

Peter Verbiscar-Brown A woman in Sasi village, Tanzania, shows off her new dairy cow, the shed which she built herself, and fodder grown with the newly available manure. A cow can easily be the most valuable possession of a rural African family, providing essential nutrition, income through milk sales, manure for increased crop production, and a sense of pride and accomplishment at the measure of self-sufficiency achieved.

Democracy and Governance
	Sean Hawkey Marta Valdés displays her ink-stained finger after voting in Bogota, Colombia.

Humanitarian Assistance

David Snyder Orphans and vulnerable children in the village of Mwanganya, in the Karonga District of northern Malawi, receive a meal of nutritious porridge, provided by an international humanitarian organization. Without the meal these children receive daily through this center, many would exist on only one meal a day. Orphans and vulnerable children are particularly at risk for disease, malnutrition, and abuse as impoverished communities struggle to take in those village children left without parents by the AIDS pandemic.

Global Health

Eliza Barclay Though he sleeps under an insecticide-treated bednet, Elsante Karangira Pallangya, a subsistence farmer who lives in a village outside of Arusha, Tanzania, contracted malaria because his net has holes in it and he cannot afford to buy a new one. While voucher programs in Tanzania have made nets free to children under five and pregnant women, the rest of the population, like Pallangya, must pay the market price for nets, usually between $3-5.

Human Interest
	Pierre Thiriet Jorge, a fisherman from Bahia de Kino, Mexico, is involved in a project launched by local NGO Comunidad y Biodiversidad to reduce marine resource overexploitation.

 

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2007 Contest Judges

Entries were judged on the basis of content and quality by an independent panel of volunteer judges. Lydia Martin, Jeffrey Austin, and Matt Powell generously volunteered their time to serve on the international panel of judges.

• Lydia Martin
  • a UK-based photographer/facilitator with a special interest in Africa, who produces work for print and online resources, as well as NGOs, government bodies, and individuals.

 

• Jeffrey Austin
  • a US-based documentary photographer who has worked for numerous humanitarian organizations and traveled extensively around the world.

 

• Matt Powell
  • a US-based humanitarian NGO photographer who specializes in photographic narratives of third world suffering and the corresponding humanitarian response.