16th AU Summit / The winners of the AU/EU photo contest announced / “African beauty in all its states”
A rainbow over a southern African savannah, a man in a sharp red suit and a woman holding her prized sheep are among the wining photographs selected as part of first joint AU/EU professional photography competition.
“African Beauty in all its states” was jointly organized by the African Union Commission (AUC) and the Delegation of the European Union (EU) to the African Union as an illustration of the strong partnership between the two institutions.
There were five winners, one per each of the five regions of Africa.
The five winners are:
Leila Ghandi for North Africa;
Daniel Naude for Southern Africa;
Mouanda Baudouin for Central Africa;
Nseabasi AKPAN for West Africa ;
Michael Tsegaye for East Africa
The photographs are as varied as the regions they come from: a portrait of a cow; a close up of the checked pattern of the sock of a well dressed Sapeur in Congo; photos from the headstones in an Ethiopian grave yard; North African women, some in veils and some unveiled; a black and white action picture of young men playing football in an abandoned field. Each triptych of photographs gave a unique glimpse into the beauty of the continent going beyond the traditional stereotypes..
The winners will each receive 10000 Euros, photographic equipment and an invitation to participate in a three-day seminar on professional photographic development. The prizes will be distributed to during the 16th African Union Summit scheduled for 24 – 31 January 2011 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The Summit has the theme: “Towards Greater Unity and Integration through Shared Values”.
In addition to the five regional winners, a grand prize winner was also selected and will be announced during the awards ceremony.
Worth recalling that more than 200 entries were received for the competition, which closed in early December. The photos were selected by a jury comprised of eminent Malian photographer Mr. Malik Sidibe and Ms. Christine Barthe, curator of the photographic collection at the Musée du Quai Branly in Paris, France. The judges chose photos that showed the beauty of the African continent in unexpected and/or exceptional fashion.
The winning photos, along with some of the other entries, will be displayed in an exhibition during the upcoming Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the AU. The Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union will be held from 29-31 January 2011, at the United Nation Conference Center in Addis Ababa.
This article was originally posted on Sustainable Development Africa Platform
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