UNICEF Photo of the Year 2009
Honorable Mention

Each year, UNICEF Germany grants the “UNICEF Photo of the Year Award” to photos and photo series that best depict the personality and living conditions of children all around the world.

Copyright - Notes

"UNICEF Photo of the Year" is a UNICEF project. The intellectual property rights and rights of use to the images used on this website are reserved to the photographers.

Eman Mohammed

Honorable Mention Eman Mohammed | Palestine/Jordan, Freelance Photographer

Playing – despite the war

A few carefree minutes of untroubled childhood: in the northern part of Gaza, these boys joyfully take a bath in the midst of the ruins that once were their home. It was destroyed during an Israeli attack. The war has left many of Gaza’s inhabitants without homes. Families use the ruins of buildings as shelters. Another shelter for them is their religion: this image shows a Palestinian girl reciting verses from the Koran in a mosque in Gaza City.

Children have the right to be protected from war. However, in the 1990s alone, more than 2 million children died in armed conflicts. More than 1 million lost their parents or were separated from them. Photographer Eman Mohammed has documented the war in her home country of Gaza.

More images by Eman Mohammed

Eman Mohammed

: Eman Mohammed

Date of Birth: 3rd of November 1987
Languages: excellent Arabic and English
Nationality: Jordanian, Palestinian

eman.press(at)hotmail.com

Education

Bachelor degree at the Islamic university of Gaza (IUG) on Journalism and Major of Public Relations (PR).
Certificate in Media information course by the German technical corporation (G.T. Z.)
Certificate in media training course by the Palestinian Ministry of Information.

Experiences

Winner of the judges’ Special Prize of Carmignac Gestion award 2009.
Received the New Media award –UK for the war coverage in Gaza 2008-2009
Had been nominated for the Joop swart masterclass- World press photo 2009.
Had my photography published in The Gurdian, Washington post, Mother jones, Haartez newspaper, Sewar magazine, Aftonbladet, Frames of Reality, Curso Abril and several other publications
Worked as a freelance photojournalist for international organizations and news agencies, including World Bank, Save the Children, UNFPA, MAP, EPA and Demotix
Worked as an English-Arabic reporter for regional agencies and international news websites. From the local, mainly with Ma'an news agency before expanding to work with the internationals such as Media-Pal, EI electronic intefada, Menassat, Peace X Peace and WeNews.
Worked as a producer and an anchor in local radio stations called Al-Iman and Al-Sha'ab.
Well trained in using Adobe Photoshop and Light room.

Interests

photography, news, media, foreign cultures, perfection writing, foreign languages and herbal since, women causes.

Jacob Aue Sobol

Honorable Mention Jacob Aue Sobol | Denmark / Magnum

The serious side of life

Their home is an abandoned train track that runs through a Bangkok slum. Since their parents don’t earn enough to feed their families, the children of Sukhumvit also have to work. For example by begging, selling flowers to tourists or as helpers in cockfights. Bangkok’s economy has rapidly grown in the last years, but as a consequence the gap between rich and poor has also increased rapidly. Although most children here attend school, they don’t grow up as carefree as they should. Leisure time, playing and relaxing are privileges around here that are reserved only for the children of the wealthy.

More images by Jacob Aue Sobol

Jacob Aue Sobol

: Jacob Aue Sobol

Born 1976 in Copenhagen, Denmark

aue.sobol(at)gmail.com

Education:

1998-2000 Fatamorgana, The Danish School of Art Photography.
1997-1998 The European Film College

Solo Exhibitions:

2010 Sabine & I,Tokyo, Yossi Milo Gallery, NY
2009 I, Tokyo, Rencontre D’Arles, Arles, France
2008 I, Tokyo, Museet for Fotokunst, Odense, Denmark
2007 Sabine, Silo Gallery, Porto, Portugal
2007 Sabine, Month of Photography, Krakow, Poland
2007 Sabine, Gallery Sztuki, Konin, Poland
2006 Sabine, Yours Gallery, Warsaw, Poland
2006 Sabine, Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool, UK
2004 Sabine, Superdanish, Festival of Danish Art, Toronto, Canada
2004 Sabine, Frederiks Bastion, Copenhagen, Denmark

Group Exhibitions:

2009 Ulsan International Fotofestival, Ulsan, Korea
2009 Centro de la Imagen, Mexico City, Mexico
2008 Unseen, Museum of Contemporary Art, Shanghai, China
2008 Discovery of Fotofest 2006, Fotofest, Houston, USA
2007 One shot each, Museet for Fotokunst, Odense, Denmark
2007 Contemporary Danish Photography, Fotofest, Houston, USA
2006 Closed Eyes, Museet for Fotokunst, Odense, Denmark
2006 37 seconds, The BBC big screen, the Liverpool Biennial/The BBC
2005 Contemporary Danish Photography, Faulconer Galleri, Grinnell, USA
2003 Charlottenborg forårsudstilling, Copenhagen, Denmark
2003 Odense photo triennale, Museet for Fotokunst, Odense, Denmark
2001 Greenland in pictures, The National Museum of Photography, Copenhagen
2000 Sons and lovers, Galleri Bossky, Copenhagen, Denmark

Books:

2008 I, Tokyo, Actes Sud (France), Apeiron (Greece), Dewi Lewis Publishing (Great Britain), Edition Braus (Germany), Lunwerg Editores (Spain), Mets & Schilt (The Netherlands) and Peliti Associati (Italy)
2004 Sabine, Politikens Forlag, Copenhagen, Denmark

Awards & Grants:

2009 The Danish Arts Foundation
2008 Leica European Publishers Award, The Danish Arts Foundation,
2008 The Toyota Foundation, Nominated, Paul Huf Award
2007 Fogtdals Foto Award, Politiken’s fund
2006 World Press Photo 1st prize, Daily Life Stories
2005 Nominated, Deutsche Börse Photography Prize, The Danish Arts Foundation
2004 The Danish Contemporary Art Foundation:The Visual Arts Centre,
2004 BG-foundation, The Copenhagen Visual Art Department, King Christian
2004 X’s Foundation, The Denmark-Greenland Cultural Fund, C.L.David Grant

Anna Jockisch

Honorable Mention Anna Jockisch | Hannover, Design & Media Student, University of Applied Sciences Hannover

Rebel yell

Instead of learning, the blond 16-year-old likes to fool around with her friends and a shopping cart at a supermarket. She lives at a children’s home near Berlin. She does so voluntarily after having spent a while in psychiatric care. She doesn’t want to return home for the time being – the difficult relationship with her mother is still too much for her to bear.

Photographer Anna Jockisch has portrayed a year in the life of German teenagers along with all the trials and tribulations of being a teenager: first love, parties, alcohol, searching for your own identity, conflicts with your parents, etc.

In Ingolstadt, Jockisch documented a part of the life of a 17-year-old girl who attends vocational school. The girl prefers to succumb to daydreams instead of studying. Rebelling against the ‘old folks’ – the privilege of those adolescents whose environment grants them the right to a self-determined life.

More images by Anna Jockisch

Anna Jockisch

: Anna Jokisch

Studentin an der Fachhochschule für Design und Medien, Hannover, Deutschland

mail(at)annajockisch.de

Anna Jockisch wurde am 24. Mai.1986 in München geboren. Nach Abschluss des Gymnasiums haben diverse Reisen die Entscheidung zur journalistischen Fotografie unterstützt. 2005 begann sie das Fotografiestudium bei Professor Rolf Nobel in Hannover. 2009 absolvierte sie eine halbjährige Hospitanz bei der Frankfurter Allgemeinen Zeitung.

Anna wurde 2005 beim Jugendfotopreis mit dem ersten Preis in ihrer Alterskategorie ausgezeichnet. Ihre Arbeit „Jugend in Deutschland“ wurde 2008 auf dem Lumix Festival für jungen Fotojournalismus ausgestellt.

A. K. Kimoto

Honorable Mention A. K. Kimoto | Japan, Freelance Photographer

Opium for the children

Seven years old and addicted to drugs: Rushanora is smoking heroin together with her dad. The drug numbs the feelings of cold and hunger which are particularly strong during the long and cold local winter. They live in Badakhshan, a remote mountain region in the northeast of Afghanistan. The country is known to be the largest producer of opium and in some parts of Badakhshan, almost 70% of the population is addicted to the drug.

7-month-old Qurban was born an opium addict. His face looks like the one of an old man. He is given a steady dose through the milk of his addicted mother.

More images by A. K. Kimoto

A.K. Kimoto, Photographer, Japan

: A.K. Kimoto

ak(at)spiderandflies.com

A.K. Kimoto is a Japanese photographer currently based out of Bangkok. After a successful career in the I.T. sector, A.K. decided to pursue his passion for travel and photography by moving to South-East Asia. Shortly after his arrival in Indonesia, a strong earthquake and tsunami devastated the Sumatran coastline around Aceh and a few days later he accepted his first assignment to cover this tragic story. Over the following years, A.K. worked with various international NGOs to document the recovery efforts in Aceh, and on many social issues in the region.

His most recent work focuses on the lives of Afghans who try to lead a normal existence while conflict and violence threaten their survival

Thomas Lekfeldt

Honorable Mention Thomas Lekfeldt | Denmark, Freelance Photographer/ Ekstra Bladet/ Moment

The enemy within

It’s one of the carefree moments in her life: 6-year-old Vibe takes a shower, spraying water all over the floor. A scene that many parents might know, but for Vibe and her family such moments have become very rare. Vibe has a brain tumor, one of the most common types of cancer in children. In Denmark, about 40 children are diagnosed with a brain tumor every year.

For one year now, Vibe has received chemotherapy and radiation treatments against her cancer. As a result of the radiation, her long blond hair has fallen out while her body is bloated due to the numerous drugs she has had to take.

Nevertheless, she enjoys being held by her father for hours; or playing with her healthy twin sister; or spending time on holiday in Mallorca. In January 2009, after a two-year struggle, Vibe lost the fight against the tumor.

More images by Thomas Lekfeldt

Thomas Lekfeldt

: Thomas Lekfeldt

mail(at)thomaslekfeldt.com

Thomas Lekfeldt was born 1977 in Holbaek, Denmark. He has travelled extensively, primarily in Asia, until studying Anthropology for a year at the University of Copenhagen in 2001/2002.

He completed a bachelor's degree in photojournalism at the Danish School of Journalism in 2007. He currently works freelance for Danish and international press and is based in Copenhagen, Denmark.

In Denmark he primarily works for the Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet. He has had his work published in The FADER Magazine, Le Monde 2, L'Espresso Magazine, Verdens Gang and Libération among others.

He has won awards in the New York Photo Awards, Best of Photojournalism, the Danish Picture of the Year and Eisa Maestro Photo Contest. He is represented by Moment Agency.

Christian Als

Honorable Mention Christian Als | Denmark / Berlingske Tidende

Childhood in ruins

The war traumatized 6-year-old Abdel Aziz. In early 2009, Israel’s war against Hamas and other militant Palestinian groups in the Gaza strip lasted for 22 days. During the ground and air attacks, approximately 1,400 people were killed. The war left its mark on the souls of the survivors.

The images of war are also burned into Abdel’s brain. On the first day of school, one week after the ceasefire, psychologists take care of him and the other children.

A Palestinian boy is looking for his toys in what is left of his family house, where the walls are full of bullet holes. About 4,000 buildings have been completely destroyed in Gaza and more than 50,000 have lost their homes. After weeks of living in fear of the next air raid warning, the conflict region has at last calmed a bit: people can attend Friday prayers again.

More images by Christian Als

Christian Als

: Christian Als

info(at)christianals.com

About me:

I am a Danish photojournalist born in the countryside outside Copenhagen. Most of my work centers on 'concerned photography' and I am constantly drawn to social, political and economic issues throughout the world. I have worked in countries like Russia, China, Tibet, DR Congo, Uganda, Kenya, Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Kazakhstan, Latvia, India and Pakistan. In 2006 I graduated from the Danish School of Journalism. My passion and interest in photography developed in the late nineties after extensive travels in third world countries, where I realized the urge to document my surroundings. I love to undertake social and humanitarian projects around the world, and like the journey a photographic project can turn into over time. Most of all I just love people and love photography. My work has been published in publications such as TIME, The New Yorker, GEO, Stern, Der Spiegel, The Sunday Times Magazine, L'espresso, D La Repubblica delle donne, Internazionale and El Pais Semanal.

Awards:

2009 Honorable Mention in UNICEF Photo of the Year 2009
2009 1st Place in the category "Editorial : War/Conflict" in Int’l Photography Awards
2009 Honorable Mentions in Prix de la Photographie, Generel News and War News
2009 Silver Prize in China International Press Photo 2008
2009 Honorable Mention in China International Press Photo 2008
2009 3rd Place in Best Of Photojournalism 2009 - Environmental Picture Story
2009 2nd Prize in 'News Photo of the Year' in the Danish Picture of the Year
2008 Honorable Mention in UNICEF Photo of the Year 2008
2008 Gold Prize in China International Press Photo 2007
2008 3rd Place in Best Of Photojournalism 2008 - Best Published Picture Story
2008 Honerable Mention in Best Of Photojournalism 2008 - Best Published Picture Story
2008 Third Place in POY 2008 - 'Feature Picture Story'
2006 Gold Prize in 'Sports News - Stories' in China International Press Photo 2005
2006 1st Prize in 'Sport Feature' in the Danish Picture of the Year 2005/2006
2005 1st Prize - student section in International Documentary Photo Awards Korea

Irina Popova

Honorable Mention Irina Popova | Russia, Freelance Photographer

Endangered childhood

When mom and dad are under the influence of drugs, nobody looks after Anfisa. She leans out of the window of a shabby flat in St. Petersburg, Russia. Cigarettes are her only toys. The parents of the two-year-old girl are punks and have been together for five years. They steal food from the grocery store and beg for money on the streets. According to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Anfisa has the right to a “healthy environment”. But who will assert such rights if the parents fail to do so?

More images by Irina Popova