Outside of Mads Nissen’s moving image of a gay couple in Russia, which took the overall prize at World Press Photo this year, were several others that sensitively place a person or people centre frame.
Acknowledged across the two awards in the Portraits category (singles and stories) were powerful images of Russian women depicted in domestic settings by the late Andy Rocchelli; military academy cadets in Europe by Paolo Verzone; a woman in China – her feet locked to the chair she is sitting on – who has been accused by authorities of working in the illegal sex trade, by Liu Song; and an eight-year-old girl, decadently dressed to go to a Halloween party, in Texas by Lisa Krantz.
But it was an image of a little girl in Australia, dressed all in purple, and a project about a community of sex workers in southern Florida that took the top awards in this category.
Australian photographer Raphaela Rosella, who featured in BJP‘s June 2014 issue, won first prize in the Portraits, Singles category. In the image, we see a veiled girl (Laurinda) standing at a bus stop waiting for a bus that will take her to Sunday School. She is among the many socially isolated young women in disadvantaged communities in Australia who face entrenched poverty, racism, violence and trauma, the accompanying caption tells us.
Rosella took the image as part of a project she worked on for the 2014 Joop Swart Masterclass, which she says was “a fun, exhausting and inspirational week.”
Of Rosella’s winning image, World Press Photo judge and photographer Laura Pannack commented: “There’s an element of mystery and the unknown, as well as beauty.”
Pannack was one of three judges tasked with overseeing the Portraits category this year. She was joined by Alessia Glaviano, senior photo editor at Vogue Italia and L’Uomo Vogue, and Azubuike Nwagbogu, director of the African Artists’ Foundation.
“An image has to provoke an emotion and make me think, which these images did,” Pannack told BJP in an interview today [12 February]. “There is a subtlety about them… whatever category you go for, quality will always stand out.”
Sofia Valiente was awarded first prize in the Portraits (stories) category for Miracle Village, a project supported, produced, edited and realised by Fabrica, Benetton’s communication research centre.
The series, which has been made into a book, focuses on a community of 100 sex offenders located on the corner of Lake Okeechobee, in the small town of Pahokee, southern Florida.
“As a society, we ostracise these people because of their label,” Valiente told Gemma Padley in a recent interview. “Hearing their stories made me realise they are human – full of fears, desires, hopes, and regrets that we all share.”
Valiente, who lives in Florida, heard about Miracle Village through a friend – the editor of the local newspaper. She made several trips to the community, and spent time living with and getting to know the men (and one woman) who live there.
This is her first photography project, says the 24-year-old, and the first time she has won an award for her work.
“I didn’t know what to expect. I was scared initially… but then, after meeting some of the residents, I realised it was nothing like I’d imagined; these people aren’t monsters – they are regular people. No-one had ever taken the time to listen to them or hear what they have to say.
“My intention was to provide an intimate glimpse into these people’s lives, to bring new light on this issue,” she adds. “There’s this notion that men with the title of ‘sex offender’ are mentally ill and go around lurking, [looking] for opportunities. But often, the crime was committed inside the home, which brings questions back to the family. I was compelled to tell the story from their perspective in order to understand the roles that were played.”
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