[Index]
Winners of International
Photo Contest «Water is Life»
Announced
Geneva and Tashkent, 16 December 2003
- The United Nations Economic Commission
for Europe and the United Nations Office
in Uzbekistan have announced the prize
winners in the international photo contest
held on the occasion of the International
Year of Freshwater 2003.
This competition was
organized in cooperation with the Academy
of Arts of Uzbekistan and the Tashkent
House of Photography and sponsored by
the Japan International Cooperation Agency
and Steinert Industries Company. It took
place from May to September 2003.
Opened to professional
and amateur photographers from countries
of Central and Eastern Europe and CIS,
the contest aimed to draw public attention
to the importance of freshwater for human
development and encourage greater understanding
of the need to protect the region's precious
freshwater resources.
In total, over 1,000
colour and black and white submissions
from 271 photographers in 19 countries
of the region as well as from China, India,
Italy, France, and Thailand were received.
The age of the contestants ranged from
15 to 68, while their areas of occupation
included photography, arts, journalism,
science and engineering, teaching, medicine,
and aviation.
The judging took place
from 25 October to 25 November 2003 in
Geneva and Tashkent. A jury comprising
of eight representatives of international
development organizations and professionals
in the field of photography from around
the world judged the contest's entries
by the criteria of interest, message,
originality and aesthetics.1
Their ballots determined the following
seven prize winners.
The first prize has been
awarded to Mr. Mikhail Golovachyov of
Uzbekistan, for the series of photographs
entitled "On the Way Home".
The second prize has gone to Mr. Ali Isik
from Turkey, for the photo "A Drop
of Life". The third prize has been
awarded jointly to Ms. Vetre Antanaviciute
of Lithuania for a photo from the series
"Mystery of Birth" and to Mr.
Vladimir Sokolov of Uzbekistan for the
photo entitled "Black Cloud".
Apart from the top four
prizes, the jury also awarded special
prizes to Mr. Vladimir Vyatkin from Russia
("Mankind and Water"), Mr. Valerie
Volontir of Moldova ("Dry")
and Mr. Rolandas Parafinavicius from Lithuania
("Missing Water").
The prize winners will
be awarded a total of USD 10,000 in prize
and commemorative cups with the Water
Year logo. The first, second and third
prize winners are to receive photographic
equipment worth USD 4,000; 2,000 and 1,000
respectively. Special prize winners will
be granted photographic accessories worth
USD 500.
An awards ceremony will take place on
18 December in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, during
the opening of the exhibition "Water
is Life". It will display a selection
of the 300 best photographs from the contest
as well as images submitted by photographers
from India, China, France, and Thailand.
The photos chosen for the exhibit will
best represent the diversity of the contestants'
perceptions of the connection between
water and life and its importance for
people and wildlife.
"The notion of "Water
is Life" seems to have struck a chord
with many people. The beauty and originality
of many of the photos received for the
contest is testament to this fact. The
photos reveal that water is what vitalizes
and sustains life. Some pictures show
a reality of water rich with the contrasts
of life: water as pure and thirst-quenching
and yet dirty and undrinkable; water that
inspires the curiosity of youth and yet
reinforces the hardship of the elderly;
water plentiful as snow and ice and yet
scarce during periods of drought. In essence,
the thirst for life emanates from these
images.showing that water really is life",
said Brigita Schmögnerová,
UN Under-Secretary-General and UNECE Executive
Secretary.
"These photographs
also remind us that water is unevenly
distributed and is not easily accessible
to all. While some countries of the region
have plentiful water supplies, enough
to meet their needs, others are currently
facing water shortages and are challenged
to manage better the scarce resources
available. We hope that the marvellous
works of our contestants will not only
be thought provoking but also inspire
greater action towards more sustainable
use of water resources," said Richard
Conroy, UN Resident Coordinator in Uzbekistan.
"The art of photography
is a powerful and stimulating tool, which
strengthens friendships and tolerance,
improves mutual understanding among people,
and promotes mutual enrichment of their
cultures. This is vividly manifested in
our photo exhibition "Water is Life",
providing a fresh perspective on the environment
in which we live", said Tursunali
Kuziev, Chairman of the Academy of Arts
of Uzbekistan.
The exhibit is also designed
to attract visitors who are unfamiliar
with water related issues and will provide
extensive information on the work that
the United Nations and other international
organizations are doing to promote good
practices on water management and development,
including water supply and sanitation.
The exhibit in Tashkent will be opened
to the public until 29 December.
1Members
of the jury are Brigita Schmögnerová,
UN Under-Secretary-General and UNECE Executive
Secretary; Richard Conroy, UN Resident
Coordinator in Uzbekistan; Michael Barry
Lane, UNESCO Resident Representative in
Uzbekistan; Tursunali Kuziev, Chairman
of the Academy of Arts of Uzbekistan;
Kae Yanagisawa, JICA Resident Representative
in Uzbekistan; Pierre Virot, WHO Photographer;
Donald Stampfli, Associated Press Photographer;
Sergio da Silva, UN Special Photographer.
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For further information,
please contact:
United Nations Office in Uzbekistan
Information Centre
4, T. Shevchenko Str.
700029, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Tel.: +99871 1523529; 1391257
Fax: +99871 1336965
E-mail: [email protected]
or
[email protected]
Web site: http://www.undp.uz
or:
United Nations Economic Commission
for Europe (UNECE)
Information Service
Palais des Nations
CH - 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Tel: +41(0)22 917 44 44
Fax: +41(0)22 917 05 05
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: http://www.unece.org/
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Ref: ECE/GEN/03/P12