UNICEF Photo of the Year 2001

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 worldwide in an outstanding manner. Here are the winners 2000.

Meredith Davenport

Siviani on the Sofa

"This portrait is not meant to arouse pity but rather to reflect Siviani's independent personality. I have experienced Siviani as a person that expresses his ideas and wishes in his very own way", explained the photographer.

"The photo irritates the spectator as he cannot immediately identify the situation the child is living in. Thus, the photo generates a sort of tension, it causes reflection and challenges questions on the personality and the situation the boy illustrated is living in", explained the jury chairman Klaus Honnef Phd.Meredith Davenport's photos show the everyday life of physically and mentally handicapped children and their families in a village about 50 kilometers north-east of Costa Rica's capital of San José. Doctors and scientists assign the children's handicap to the use of pesticides on banana plantations. The children's parents have been exposed to pesticides for years during their work. When taking care of their children they are hardly or only insufficiently supported.

2. Preis für Jan Grarup, "The boys from Ramallah/Westbank"

3. Preis für Vincent Kohlbecher, "Street children in Bukarest/Romania"

4. Preis für Roger Ballen, "Portrait eines schlafenden Mädchens"

Ehrenvolle Erwähnung