- In its 28th edition, the Luis Valtueña International Humanitarian Photography Award received 897 photographic projects and 7933 photographs from 96 countries around the world, a record number of entries in the history of this photographic competition.
- The wall dividing the border between Mexico and the United States, the suicide of women victims of violence and social exclusion and the hidden face of the real estate crisis in Europe’s number one tourist destination, Lisbon, are the themes of the finalist projects in this edition.
The Luis Valtueña International Humanitarian Photography Award, organised by the NGO Médicos del Mundo for almost three decades, has gone to the Palestinian photographer Mahmoud Issa for his photographic series Siege and hunger, which comes to the public one year after the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in the Gaza Strip and narrates the serious impact on physical and mental health of the “strategy of famine” – as its author calls it – which affects more than two million Gazans, causing severe malnutrition throughout the population, especially among children due to the lack of adequate food.
In the nine-image series, Issa describes “how, as the conflict progresses, children’s health deteriorates due to the depletion of essential minerals in their bodies, causing many of them to die from malnutrition and starvation.
The jury agreed that it is a well-told project with direct testimonies, which raises awareness and calls for citizen action. ”These photos show malnutrition and lack of food security, a universal struggle of many families that will lead to a humanitarian crisis around the world if we don’t stop it,” said Fiona Wachera, media strategist, editor of Everyday Africa and member of the jury for this edition, highlighting the relevance of this work.
“Despite the difficult conditions we are enduring – bombings, displacement and hunger – I am truly grateful to receive this news. My message to the world is to end the war in Gaza and I hope that my photographs can contribute to making this a reality,“ Mahmoud Issa described his excitement after the announcement of the award.
Projects advocating global empathy
The finalists’ work shows us very current realities and very diverse in their geographical distribution. The awards went to Spanish photographer Daniel Ochoa de Olza for his work The Gap, on the wall that divides the border between Mexico and the United States; Colombian photographer Santiago Mesa, for his work The invisible wound on the deep and silent pain of suicide that especially affects young women in a Colombian community that suffers discrimination, poverty and violence, and Portuguese photographer Mário Cruz for his work ROOF that portrays the inhumane conditions, fragile lives and lonely battles of people suffering the consequences of the real estate crisis in Europe’s number one destination: Lisbon.
“One of the projects that has most interested me is ROOF because of its visual writing, its ability to play with the symbol, because the issue of housing is an endemic evil throughout the world. For me it is an absolutely topical issue, even if it is Portugal, it could be Spain, the south of France, the United States, Latin America, and I think it is a very powerful work“, said Silvia Omedes, member of the jury and director of the Photographic Social Vision Foundation.
A high-level jury
Once again this year, the Luis Valtueña International Award for Humanitarian Photography has counted on renowned professionals in the field of photojournalism and humanitarian action who have given their time and knowledge selflessly in favour of the competition. The jury for this 28th edition was made up of documentary photographer Catalina Martín-Chico; Thana Faroq, documentary photographer and writer; Nicolás Pereyra, photojournalist and editor-in-chief of photography at El País Uruguay; Francisco Rey, co-director of the Institute of Studies on Conflict and Humanitarian Action; Fiona Wachera, media strategist and editor of EveryDay Africa; Silvia Omedes, director of the Photographic Social Visual Foundation and Fran Carrasco, director of communication, recruitment and advocacy at Médicos del Mundo.
Results of the 28th edition
This edition received 897 entries (7933 images) and photographic series from 96 countries. In this order, the largest number came from Spain (85), Iran (76), the United States (52), India (47), Italy (47), France (45), Germany (38), Russia (34), Great Britain (32) and Bangladesh (26).
The percentage of women’s participation continues to increase year on year. This year’s edition is 5% higher than last year’s – 36% in total , a figure higher than that of other major international photography competitions.
History of the Award
The Luis Valtueña International Humanitarian Photography Prize is awarded annually in memory of four Médecins du Monde aid workers who were killed while working in humanitarian action to assist civilians in armed conflicts: Luis Valtueña, Flors Sirera and Manuel Madrazo in Rwanda in 1997 and Mercedes Navarro in Bosnia in 1995. Valtueña was a photographer by profession and in Spain worked as a reporter for the Cover Agency, which is why this award bears his name.
The competition recognises the work of professionals in the field of humanitarian and documentary photography who, through their images, denounce injustices and abuses or bear witness to those who combat them. With the launch of this new edition, Médecins du Monde once again demonstrates “its firm commitment to humanitarian photography as an essential tool for raising public awareness, bearing witness to human rights violations and denouncing the injustices that occur in many corners of the world,” says Pepe Fernández, president of the health NGO.
Médicos del Mundo is grateful for the essential support of the SEUR Foundation for ensuring the transfer of the work to different parts of Spain and Fujifilm Spain for ensuring the highest quality standards for the printing, production and framing of the work in this edition.
