The International Academic Forum (IAFOR) is delighted to announce that Hosam Katan from Syria has been selected as the Grand Prize Winner of the IAFOR Documentary Photography Award 2015 for his brave and important work from his hometown of Aleppo, Syria. Congratulations, Hosam, on this is well deserved achievement.
Simon Norfolk had this to say about Hosam’s work:
Hosam’s work stood out for me for it’s fierce, go-where-no-one-else-can-go bravery. I admire what he’s done but also that he was requesting funding to keep doing what he does and not go off globe-trotting. A crucial story and it’s not often that you can say without hyperbole that if he doesn’t record it, it will not get recorded.
Congratulations also to Yasmin Balai (Second Place), Romain Champalaune (Third Place), Olga Ingurazova (Commended Entry) and Liton Masud Alam (Commended Entry).
Special thanks to our judges, Paul Lowe, Simon Norfolk and Emma Bowkett, and The International Academic Forum (IAFOR), University of the Arts London, Centre for Documentary Practice, RMIT University, Medill School of Journalism, MediaStorm and World Press Photo for their support during this, our inaugural year.
About
The IAFOR Documentary Photography Award is an international photography award which seeks to promote and assist in the professional development of emerging documentary photographers and photojournalists.
The award is supported by The International Academic Forum (IAFOR) and builds off of the strength of the IAFOR Documentary Film Award, now in its fifth year. Documentary has a rich history of exposing truths, telling stories, raising awareness and creating discussion — all practices valued at IAFOR.
This year’s award was judged by a panel of leading professionals in the field of documentary photography and photojournalism, including our Founding Judge, Dr Paul Lowe, Simon Norfolk and Emma Bowkett.
Winners were announced at The European Conference on Media, Communication and Film in Brighton, England.
For more information about the Award, please contact Thaddeus Pope, Creative Director (tpope@iafor.org).
