The theme of this seventh edition of the World Report Award was
‘Fertile Solidarity’, where “the spirit of togetherness is realized through
actions which bring about and support the progress of our entire society”.

SCOTT A WOODWARD_DSC4737 (Dechen Phodrang Monastery, Thimphu)

The 8th annual edition of Il Festival della Fotografia Etica (The Festival of Ethical Photography) returns to Lodi, Italy this October.  Dedicated to the ability of a still image to convey a powerful message — particularly at a time when it is estimated that 1 trillion photographs are made every day — the festival strives to promote photography as a tool to gain a deeper understanding of our world while investigating the relationship between ethics, communication and photography through international exhibitors, workshops, portfolio reviews, video projections and more.

This year, the festival has for the first time introduced a new award category: the Single Shot.  This award challenged photographers to capture and illustrate the theme of “Fertile Solidarity” in a single photograph.  As the festival curators explain, “The theme for this new Single Shot section aims to be a hymn to solidarity that generates future progress.  The spirit of togetherness is realized through actions which bring about and support the progress of our entire society.  We perceive solidarity as an act of growth that stimulates, builds and inspires change.  We selected images that represent this perspective in a creative way: this could be from the many activities carried out by humanitarian associations, to personal relationships among people, from treatment and pain relief to the sense of belonging to the great world community.”

772 photographers from 51 countries and five continents submitted their photography to the festival for consideration.  A panel of esteemed international judges narrowed this down to 30 finalists, and my photograph of hungry novice monks careening down a steep hill on their way to dinner at the Dechen Phodrang monastic school in Thimphu, Bhutan — which was first published in National Geographic Magazine — was one of the images shortlisted for the World Report Single Shot Award 2017.

Last week the 1st, 2nd and 3rd prize winners were announced and the outstanding reportage of Alberto Campi, Peter Bauzer and Alessandro Rota (below) was honoured by the festival.  The photographs made by these three prize winners — together with those of the other 27 finalists (myself included) — will be exhibited in Lodi during the 2017 edition of the Il Festival della Fotografia Etica from October 7-29, 2017.

Alberto_Campi_SolidarietaFertile

1st Prize – Alberto Campi
Afghan refugee children play in the apse of Saint J. B. au Béguinage Church in Brussels where they have been living for several weeks.

Edilane and 3 (Daniel, Davi and Esther) of her 7 kids (at the time of the shoot) are resting on a mattress on the floor. She is giving soon birth to a son. Despite all her problems and struggling often how to feed her kids next day, she is still positive about her life. Recently she was able to build up a very small and basic internet store inside the buildings. Out of approx. 10 old computers she makes one for the store. This represents some 5 USD daily. _____ The people of “Copacabana Palace”, also usually called Jambalaya or Carandiru, are the “sem tetos, sem terras”. Generally hidden from view, they represent the dark side of Brazil’s multibillion-dollar spending spree on global sporting events such as the 2007 Pan American Games, the 2014 FIFA World Cup, and the 2016 Olympics. There are thought to be several million people in Brazil without a stable roof (sem moradias), and the number is rising. Despite government housing schemes „minha casa, minha vida“ and anti-poverty policies the “sem tetos, sem terras” (homeless and landless) face a bleak future.

2nd Prize – Peter Bauza
Edilane and some of her kids are resting on a mattress, pregnant with a boy. This work is part of a 14 months long-term project, Copacabana Palace, about the “Sem Tetos“, while Brazil spent billions in Panamerican Games, World Cup and Olympics.

IRAQ oct 2016

3rd Prize – Alessandro Rota
Pete Reed (27, USA) and Alex Kay Potter (28, USA) of international medical NGO Global Response Management treat a child hit by an airstrike from coalition forces in the fight against ISIS fighters in Mosul, Iraq.  Both his parents were killed, two of his brothers were injured, in the explosion.