ANNOUNCEMENT | Aftermath Grant Winners Announced

"We had an incredibly strong group of 142 applicants this year — so strong that we named six finalists, instead of our usual three (in addition to our two grant winners). Here they are:

GRANT WINNERS:

$25,000 grant: Asim Rafiqui (Sweden/US), for his project, “The Idea of India: Religious and Cultural Pluralism as Resistance to Sectarian Conflict,” an exploration of the aftermath of religious conflict in India through documenting pluralist landscapes, shared sacred sites, shared cultural traditions and efforts at reconciliation within divided communities.

$15,000 grant: Louie Palu (Canada), for his project, “Home Front,” which explores and compares the experiences of American Vietnam War veterans, and returning soldiers from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Palu’s project focuses on the emotional and psychological issues faced by soldiers who return from war and the long-term effects they deal with as they try to reintegrate into their families and society.

FINALISTS (in alphabetical order):

Rodrigo Abd (Guatemala) – “Reclaiming the dead: mass graves in Guatemala, a story only partially told”

Andrea Bruce (US) – “Unseen Iraq”

David Monteleone (Italy) – “Russian Caucasus”

Saiful Huq Omi (Bangladesh) – “The Disowned and the Denied: the Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh”

Donald Weber (Canada) – “Firewalk: Life with Cluster Bombs in South Lebanon”

Ami Vitale (US) – “Kashmir: Lifting the Veil”

We will post the winners and finalists, along with examples of their work and their project statements, on our website early in the new year.

OF NOTE

Libia Posada (Colombia) — “Cardinal Signs” Although Libia’s work did not make it to finalist status, the judges wanted to call attention to her work, which is a fine art photographic approach to documenting the trials of Colombia’s internally displaced population. A medical doctor, Posada hand draws maps on the legs of people who have been on long, forced journeys within Colombia because of the violence there. The maps are the routes that the individual subject has taken as an internally displaced person. She then poses the individual for a photograph on a white background, shot from the knees down, showing the maps of the journeys. We felt it was a powerful way to portray an aftermath story, and one that reflects a different point of view. We wanted to acknowledge Posada as a way to encourage her and also to encourage other fine art photographers who may consider applying for Aftermath Project grants in the future.