Winners of the 2024 Sony World Photography Awards have been announced, with Juliet Pavey named Photographer of the Year for her Spiralkampanen series, a project about the forced sterilization of Inuit women in Greenland. .
Pavi's documentary project explores the lasting effects of contraceptive practices practiced on Greenlandic Inuit by Danish doctors in the 1960s and 1970s.
This series examines the Spiralkampanen ('Coil Campaign'), in which thousands of Inuit women and girls, some as young as 12, were fitted with intrauterine devices (IUDs) without their consent. To do.
The photographs range from shots of the city of Nuuk and its clinical spaces to X-ray images and archival photographs of the young women involved.
Nuuk psychologist Nadja Rivers was one of the first to testify about her forced sterilization. She started her Facebook group to help women share common experiences and help each other cope with trauma.
Jutte Rivers was 14 years old when she had her IUD inserted. Since then, she has not been able to have children.
Monica Allende, chair of the jury for the 2024 Professional Competition, said Pavy's “empathetic depictions of her subjects, capturing them in a way that combines dignity and deep intimacy, thereby highlighting her extraordinary talent.” “It was,” he praised.
Pavy's work won the Documentary Project category of the Professional Competition.
Here are comments from winners in other categories and photographers.
architectural design
Sara Mayor (Living Room) by Siobhan Dolan
“This series is part of the book project “The House That Sugar Built: An Intimate Portrait of Filipino Ancestral Homes,'' for which I was granted access to these historic mansions.
“The sala mayor (main living room) typically showcases the architectural features and lifestyle of the people, but also leaves room for the viewer's interpretation of these unique homes.”
creative
“A Thousand Cuts” by Sujata Setia
“‘A Thousand Cuts’ is an ongoing portrait and story series that presents a photographic study of patterns of domestic violence in South Asian communities.
“I express the act of continually chipping away at the souls of those who have been abused by making incisions in the portraits of the participants, and I express the fragility of existence by making prints on thin paper.''
environment
Echoes of the Hive by Mahe Eripe
“In March 2023, a tragic fate befell over 100 beekeepers.” [in Hopelchén, Campeche in south-east Mexico]. The honey bee melipona was poisoned by the insecticide fipronil, which is banned in most European countries but is still allowed in Mexico.
“This tragedy left a deep scar on the Maya people. Their survival is closely tied to the golden nectar of Melipona.”
landscape
“The Sacrifice Zone” by Ed Hartman
“This series explores a remote region of Kazakhstan known as “The Polygon,'' which was once home to the Soviet Union's main nuclear testing facility.
“The site remains heavily contaminated and can only be accessed in protective gear.
“This series of images, taken using an infrared camera, suggests a threat that is similarly invisible to the human eye: radiation resulting from a nuclear explosion.”
portfolio
Jorge Monaco portraits and landscapes
“My goal is to create projects that highlight the lives of underrepresented people, regardless of ethnicity, religion, or gender.
“Through my images, I aim to raise awareness, promote inclusion, and provide a perspective to reflect on human diversity.”
Portrait
father and son valery poshtalov
“While posing, fathers and sons hold hands for the first time in years, sometimes decades. It is a powerful moment, often accompanied by hesitation and even resistance.
“This intimate act became the main objective of the project, and the photographs are simply evidence of the long-unspoken love between men.”
sports
Kald Sòl (Cold Sun) by Thomas Muro
“Kald Sòl is a series I worked on while documenting a mid-winter surfing expedition in Iceland.
“I've always had a fascination with documenting cold surf, so when I got the chance I jumped at it. When I look at the black and white photos, you can feel the cold even when the sun is out.”
still life
Flora by Federico Scarcili
“Plants are one of the main suppliers of medicines and should be considered as producers and dynamic containers of chemicals.
“This series highlights the important role of pharmacology in modern biology.”
wildlife and nature
“Suspended Worlds” by Eva Barrer
“This project began as an exploration of a spider's web world where time and action are frozen, but it led to a personal journey into my deepest fears and desires.
“They serve as a metaphor for the hidden lives of the people next to us, whom we pass every day but actually know nothing about.”
The Open competition celebrates the power of a single image.
Liam Mann won the award for his photo 'Moonrise Sprite Over Storr', which shows the Old Man of Storr rock formation illuminated by drone lights during a storm on the Isle of Skye in Scotland.
Cain Lewis from LUCA School of Art Sint Lucas Brussels was awarded the title of Student Photographer of the Year for her series “Don't Trust Pretty Girls'', in which she took intimate portraits of her step-parents.
15-year-old Daniel Murray won the Youth Photographer of the Year award.
Applicants were asked to respond on the theme “Through Your Eyes.”
A photo of a lone surfer on an empty Cornish beach captures the tranquility of late summer.
Kathleen Orlinsky was announced as this year's sustainability award winner for her series “America's First Wilderness.”
Orlinski's project focuses on how people living in the wilderness of southeastern New Mexico coexist peacefully with the nature around them and promote the conservation of their spaces.
This year's Outstanding Contribution to Photography Award was awarded to Sebastian Salgado.
More than 40 images from esteemed photographers, highlighting the key themes and milestones of their careers over the past 50 years, will be featured at the Sony World Photography Awards 2024 at Somerset House. It will be displayed at the exhibition.
An exhibition of the winners and shortlisted images will run from 19 April to 6 May 2024 at Somerset House, London.