UNICEF Photo of the Year 2003

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 2003.

Don Bartletti

Bound to El Norte

The American photographer Don Bartletti is the winner of the “UNICEF – Photo of the Year” international photo competition. His photo shows a boy from Honduras on his way to the USA – as a stowaway on the roof of a freight train.

Enrique is five when his mother leaves him. She wants to go to the US to earn money. Eleven years long the boy in Honduras waits for her return. Then he sets out to look for her, alone, with no money, his life in danger. An odyssey of over 19.000 kilometers begins, riding on top of northbound freight trains. The boy endures hunger, is chased by police and by bandits.

Enrique is one of thousands of children who take off every year from Central America to head up north. Only a few are lucky. Many keep trying again and again. Photographer Don Bartletti travelled with these children in the footsteps of Enrique and documented their experiences.

2. Preis für Felicia Webb, "Generation XL"

3. Preis für Brent Stirton, "Sierra Leone"

Ehrenvolle Erwähnung