IAFOR Documentary Photography Award | Winners 2018

The judging panel and organisers are delighted to announce Ezra Acayan as the Grand Prize Winner of this year’s IAFOR Documentary Photography Award in recognition of his work documenting the ongoing war on drugs in the Philippines. Congratulations to Ezra on this achievement. Ezra will now receive the following as part of his Grand Prize package:

Congratulations also to Subhrajit Sen (Second Place) from India, Elliott Verdier (Third Place) from France, Camillo Pasquarelli (Honourable Mention) from Italy, and Farshid Tighehsaz (Honourable Mention) from Iran, who will also receive prizes from Think Tank Photo, MediaStorm and The International Academic Forum (IAFOR).

This year’s IAFOR Documentary Photography Award received over 120 submissions from more than 30 countries – offering the judges a wide range of international perspectives on the theme of “Fearful Futures”. Commenting on this year’s winning entries, Founding Judge Dr Paul Lowe (VII Photo Agency/University of the Arts London) said the following:

The standard of entries this year was exceptionally high, and the work dealt with a wide range of global issues. Making a choice between so many strong bodies of work was very difficult, but in the end the jury selected the following:

Honourable Mentions were given to Camillo Pasquarelli for his original and innovative use of x-ray images of the victims of human rights abuse in Kashmir, and to Farshid Tighehsaz for his intimate personal documentation of Iranian society.

Third Place was awarded to Elliott Verdier for his visually stunning series on daily life in Kyrgyzstan.

Second Place was awarded to Subhrajit Sen for his powerful work on the victims of uranium poisoning in India. The jury were particularly impressed with his detailed proposal to continue the work.

First Place was awarded to Ezra Acayan for his extraordinary bravery and dedication in covering the ongoing war on drugs in the Philippines. The jury felt that this body of work, and his commitment to human rights work, was worthy of the highest accolade.

Special thanks to our judges, Dr Paul Lowe, Maria Teresa Salvati and Ziyah Gafić, and our supporters The International Academic Forum (IAFOR), World Press Photo, Metro Imaging, University of the Arts London, Think Tank Photo and MediaStorm.


Winners 2018

Grand Prize

Duterte’s War On Drugs Is Not Over
Ezra Acayan
The Philippines


Second Place

Death Valley
Subhrajit Sen
India


Third Place

A Shaded Path
Elliott Verdier
France


Honourable Mention

The Valley of Shadows
Camillo Pasquarelli
Italy


Honourable Mention

From Labyrinth
Farshid Tighehsaz
Iran

For more information about the Award, please contact Thaddeus Pope, Creative Director, IAFOR Documentary Photography Award (tpope@iafor.org).

Posted by Thaddeus Pope

Thaddeus Pope is the Director of Visual Communications for The International Academic Forum (IAFOR) and the Creative Director of the IAFOR Documentary Photography Award.

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  1. […] Acayan is the Grand Prize Winner of this year’s IAFOR Documentary Photography Award in recognition of his work documenting the ongoing war on drugs in the Philippines. Congratulations […]

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