Sandipani Chattopadhyay’s captivating black and white portrait of a child laborer taken in a shipyard in Bangladesh wins Best of Show in the 2018 Annual Photoshare Photo Contest.
The contest, in its 13th year, drew interest from around the globe: 215 participants submitted more than 1,660 photos captured in 74 countries. The 2018 contest featured stirring and high-quality images across a range of topics and regions from refugees in Myanmar to Zika prevention in Jamaica to family planning in Haiti.
Photoshare, which focuses on capturing projects in action and the people they serve, is a service of the Knowledge for Health (K4Health) project, which is supported by USAID’s Office of Population and Reproductive Health and led by the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs.
“The winning image highlights the impact that governance and the economy have on childhood and the pressing need to improve equity in global health and development,” says David Alexander, who runs Photoshare. “All of this year’s contest winners and honorable mentions give us the chance to feature and reward amazing photographers and to gain insight into the meaningful work of global health and development professionals around the world.”
All of the contest submissions will support Photoshare’s growing collection, helping international nonprofits communicate effectively about critical health and development issues. By facilitating photo sharing among public health professionals and photographers, Photoshare has become a leading source for editorial public health and development photography.
This year, the Photoshare People’s Choice Award in Sexual and Reproductive Health was again presented with media partner Girls’ Globe. The winning image, which documents safe condom use education in Uganda, received 442 votes cast via social media.
“It was outstanding to see the level of engagement and social media voting for this year’s Photoshare People’s Choice Award,” Alexander says. “The number of votes doubled this year and the finalists for that Sexual and Reproductive Health category weren’t just stunning photos but also photos that documented public health projects in action.”
Photoshare also continued a successful partnership with Health Care Information for All in sponsorship of the Healthcare Providers category recognized with the HIFA Photo Award. This year’s winning image captures a nursing student in Turkey as she administers eye drops to her grandfather and was selected by members of the HIFA Steering Committee.
“This image is captivating and utterly compelling,” the judges wrote. “It captures a tender moment that evokes the tradition of cross-generational care within the family — so important, and yet we do not often see it. It also celebrates the emergence of a new generation of professional health workers dedicated to help take care of us across the life course, from birth to death.”
A full list of winners and images can be found at Photoshare.org.
