Vietnam girl wins World Press Photo Award

The 54th World Press Photo Contest's 2nd prize of Contemporary Issue for 2010 will be bestowed on America-based photojournalist Ed Kashi for his photo of a 9-year-old Vietnamese girl struck with Agent Orange.

The photo, announced winner at a press conference last week, captures a slice of life of Nguyen Thi Ly, a third generation suffering from Agent Orange in the central province of Da Nang which was heavily affected by the Vietnam War.

The picture earlier also won the first prize of Germany Unicef’s 2010 Photo of the Year last December.

Vietnam Agent Orange victims touch Briton’s heart

Ly pictured in this photo that won 2nd prize

Through a project for the non-governmental organization “Children of Vietnam” which supported Agent Orange victims, photographer Ed Kashi had come to live with Ly’s family for 4 days to complete his photo series.

This year’s World Press Photo premium award went to South African photographer Jodi Bieber with her portrait of an 18-year-old Afghanistan woman whose nose and ear were cut off by her husband and his family under a Taliban verdict.

The photo of the year 2010

56 other photographers from 23 countries were crowned winners of this year’s contest. Sport, general and spot news, daily life, nature, contemporary issues, portrait, art and entertainments are among the 9 categories of the renowned world’s photography award.

The contest also saw a record number of 108,059 images submitted. The number of participating photographers was 5,847, representing 125 different nationalities.

An award ceremony will be held on May 7 in Amsterdam to honor winning photographers and their work.

 "Old Iron Market burns" taken in Haiti earned first prize of General News single for Italian photograper Riccardo Venturi

 

"The Flying Cholitas" by Italian photographer Tamagni Daniele earned second prize of Art and Entertainment

Related Articles

• Hanoi model wins Miss Vietnam 2010
• Quan wins French student beauty pageant
• An Dong Co. wins land-use right for prime site
• Local tour operators honored in Thailand
• Young stars raise profile of Vietnam chess

UNICEF’s Photo of the Year features Vietnam girl

UNICEF Germany’s 2010 Photo of the Year features a 9-year-old Vietnamese girl struck with Agent Orange.

The winning photo, by America-based photojournalist Ed Kashi captures a slice of life of Nguyen Thi Ly, a third generation suffering from Agent Orange in the central province of Da Nang which was heavily affected by the War.

Born into a family infected with Agent Orange, Ly suffers from serious birth defects and deformities.

Bed ridden from birth, Ly only started learning to walk at the age of 5, first used her voice at 6, and went to school at 7, thanks to her family’s tireless effort to integrate her into life.

The winning photo featuring Ly

Ly’s mother is also a victim with poor health and a deformed face, who inherited Agent Orange damaged genes from her father.

It is not a rare story in a contaminated land which used to be an American base of operations where tons of Agent Orange were stored for defoliation missions like Danang.

Agent Orange contains dioxins that are known to cause cancer and damage genes. The effects of the toxic substance can be seen among Vietnamese people to this day: cancer, immune disorders and severe deformities.

Through a project for the non-governmental organization “Children of Vietnam” which supported Agent Orange victims, photographer Ed Kashi had come to live with Ly’s family for 4 days to make his photo series.

“Kashi excellently uses strong light and shadow effects to emphasize the longing of a disabled girl to lead a normal life”, said Jury Chairman Klaus Honnef, Art Historian and Journalist of the winning photo.

Despite her ill health, Ly has been doing well at school and received awards for satisfying performances.

With a defected lung, Ly has to endure pain for every breath she takes.

Her only wish is to be able to breathe normally.

Related Articles

• Fireworks, festivals ring in new year
• Imports for electronic products to rise this year
• Shoemakers build on success
• Tiger Woods and wife divorce after sex scandal
• USDA forecasts strong corn import from Vietnam

Canon Vietnam launches marathon photo contest

This photo, themed Gia Dinh (Family), by Chu Duc Minh of Hanoi won the grand prize of US$7,000 last year

Canon will organize the annual “Canon PhotoMarathon Vietnam″ photo contest next month, which, as the name suggests, will give competitors three themes in quick succession for completion within a given time frame.

The competition, to be held in Hanoi on September 11 and Ho Chi Minh City the next day, is open to all photographers living in Vietnam.

Each participant will be given three separate themes to base their photos on. They will get three hours to complete each, return to the contest location with their pictures, and download them on to the server before getting the next one.

The work will be judged on criteria like creativity in theme interpretation, use of colors and light/shadow, composition of photograph, and relevance to theme.

There will be one winner and two merit-prize winners in each theme.

The best contestant will get an overall grand prize of US$7,000.

Chu Duc Minh of Hanoi won the grand prize last year.

Further information can be obtained at ha_do@canon.com.sg or tuquan_thai@canon.com.sg.

Related Articles

• Ford rewards employee’s technician skills in contest
• Giant embroidered picture on display
• Vietnam Air accepts web check-in for int’l flights
• Epic race across VN set for Hanoi's anniversary
• Quoc leads medal hopes at SEA table tennis tourney