Lalo de Almeida, photojournalist at sheetwon the regional long-term project category of the World Press Photo, the most prestigious photojournalism award in the world, for its work in the Amazon.
This year, the award changed the configuration of the annual contest and its judgment and divided the award into two stages. This Thursday (24), the regional winners from 23 countries were announced, and on April 7, the four global winners will be announced.
The award-winning project was Dystopia Amazônica, chosen as a highlight among professionals in South America. The work documents the occupation of the Amazon and its impact on the forest and the inhabitants of the region. The images were published by sheet in the series Amazon under Bolsonaro.
The series’ reports, which began to be published in 2020, tell the challenges to keep the forest standing, addressing topics such as deforestation, illegal mining and quilombola communities.
Most of the work was done in partnership with two other reporters, Fabiano Maisonnave and Marcelo Leite, and was funded by Rainforest Foundation Norway and Climate Home News.
“I was very happy to win this award because it is the recognition of a work I’ve been doing for over ten years and that started following the construction process of the Belo Monte hydroelectric plant, in the Altamira region”, says Lalo de Almeida.
For him, taking the issue of the Amazon to a global audience at a time when the forest is threatened by the current government is extremely important.
“Obviously, the project shows that the issue of predatory occupation of the Amazon did not begin with the Bolsonaro government. It is a historical process that dates back to colonial times to the present day. Now it has entered another level of threat with the current government”, he says.
According to Lalo, the Amazon Dystopia project is long-term and has no end date. “I will continue photographing the Amazon as long as I have energy.”
According to the award jury, the project portrays the social, political and environmental reality of Brazil under the presidency of Jair Bolsonaro (PL). “The visual language of cause and effect is well balanced. Each image is intentional and impactful, contributing to a collection of testimonies that expose the multifaceted effects of land destruction and plundering of natural resources experienced by Brazilian communities,” the jury writes.
Last year, the photographer had already won the Environment category of the World Press Photo with a work on the Pantanal.
The award-winning series, which for months in 2020 portrayed the destruction of the Pantanal caused by fire, was made in partnership with reporter Fabiano Maisonnave and gained strength with the portrait of a howler monkey kneeling and charred in the middle of a devastated forest.
other winners
In other categories and regions, works such as the one by Argentine photographer Irina Werning won. She, who is already known for the essay entitled “Back to the Future”, won the stories category in South America by registering a girl who, during the pandemic, promised only to cut her hair when she could resume face-to-face classes at school.
“The Promise [nome do projeto premiado] offers an alternative and innovative perspective on the challenges of Covid-19 restrictions in South America. The project’s many layers address the long-term effects of the pandemic on children and question how children can engage in the demand for equal access to education.”
In Europe, among others, the work of the Greek photographer Konstantinos Tsakalidis won. He was honored for a photo of the forest fire on the island of Evia in Greece.
“The jury felt that this beautifully composed image portrays a visceral and emotional connection between the woman and her surrounding landscape,” comments the jury.
In Africa, Nigerian photographer Sodiq Adelakun Adekola was one of the winners. In the stories category, he was featured with his portrait of a black woman crying the day after her two daughters were kidnapped.
“The photographer approached the complex issue of school kidnappings in Nigeria in a respectable way. The story presents evocative descriptions of absence, despair and waning hope in communities being torn apart,” the commission said.
Also on the African continent, Faiz Abubakr Mohamed won the “singles” category with the record of the moment a protester threw back a gas bomb thrown by security forces during a protest for the end of the military regime in Sudan.
