Since the start of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the strategy of starvation – as Palestinian photographer Mahmoud Issa calls it – has taken its toll on the physical and mental health of the Gazan population, especially children. His images are part of the winning series of the 28th Luis Valtueña International Humanitarian Photography Award, granted annually by the NGO Médecins du Monde.
“I hope that with my photos I have been able to transmit part of the suffering of my people, the people of Gaza and the Palestinian people in general,” said Issa when he heard the news of the award in a call he was answering from northern Gaza, where he continues to cover the conflict in the hope of achieving peace.
A photo of a three-year-old Palestinian boy in very poor health, struggling to survive due to malnutrition, is part of the winning series Siege and Hunger, which Issa documents on the Gaza Strip and which will be on display from 31 January to 1 March at the Salesian Missions Museum in Madrid, which is opening its doors to host this exhibition.
“The Luis Valtueña Award is a firm commitment by Médicos del Mundo to humanitarian photography as an essential tool for raising public awareness and denouncing injustice,” says Pepe Fernández, president of the NGO. The exhibition has the collaboration of the Salesian Missions Museum, which includes, in addition to the winning project, three finalist series that have been recognised by the jury for their unique way of tackling very complex and no less current issues.
The Spanish photojournalist Daniel Ochoa de Olza surprises with a monumental photographic work, The Gap, which explains with a sinister and ridiculous object, the social and political selfishness of the border between the United States and Mexico: the wall where millions of migrants risk their lives to fulfil the American dream.
Colombian photojournalist Santiago Mesa presents the series The Invisible Wound, a work that narrates the silent suicides of young women from a community in the Colombian Chocó who suffer discrimination, poverty and violence in the face of the neglect of the system. Finally, ROOF, by photojournalist Mário Cruz, brings to the viewer’s eyes the drama of the lives of those who suffer the hidden face of the real estate crisis in Europe’s number one tourist destination: Lisbon.
The exhibition includes a collection of 28 striking images that have marked the history of the Luis Valtueña Award since its beginnings. The events do not obey all the editions, but offer a balance of multiple themes, relevant milestones that have occurred in different parts of the world and have been told through the images. From the explosion of AIDS in Africa to the elderly people’s homes in Spain during the COVID-19 pandemic; from female genital mutilation to demonstrations against male violence: stories not to be forgotten.
This exhibition is made possible thanks to the support of Fujifilm Spain and the Seur Foundation.
MORE INFORMATION
28th Luis Valtueña Humanitarian Photography Exhibition
Valtueña: www.premioluisvaltuena.org
Dates: 31 January to 01 March 2025
Opening hours: Monday to Friday from 10:00 to 14.00h – 16.00 to 20.00h and Saturdays from 10:00 to 14:00h
Free admission
Where: Salesian Missions Museum Madrid. Calle Lisboa, 4. Madrid.
Metro: Line 3, Moncloa / Buses: 62 and 74.
