Pathshala student Farzana Hossen declared winner of the prestigious Ian Parry Scholarship at the?Visa Pour L?Image, Perpignan, France
2013 Winner / Farzana Hossen / Pathshala / Bangladesh
Farzana Hossen 2013 Winner
?Without a doubt, this is the strongest set of images and written text that we have seen today. I get a clear sense that Farzana has an invested interest in conveying the horror of these attacks. Congratulations to all those who entered on undeniably strong work? Don McCullin,?Patron.
?I am delighted that the judges have chosen another strong winning entry this year, both in terms of the importance of the subject and Farzana?s remarkable personal story that brought
her to approach it.? Aidan Sullivan Founder, IPS.
Magda Rakita 2013 Highly Commended
Kazi Riasat Alve 2013 Commended<
Mehran Hamrahi 2013 Commended
?One of the most rewarding experiences of judging this year?s award was seeing the explosion of work being submitted from foreign photographers, particularly Asia. I was impressed with
the standard and professionalism on display and how these photographers approached important social issues in their locality? Simon Roberts, Judge and former winner.
The judges felt that Farzana?s winning portfolio ?Lingering Scars? communicated an intensely personal story with brave and intelligent visual story telling of great strength and depth of composition. In Bangladesh, reports of violence against women are on the rise. Oftentimes, it takes the form of acid attacks, which are estimated to occur every two days, the majority of sufferers being female.
We received an unprecedented level of entries again this year, the standard was higher and applicants younger than ever before. Our judging is done as a process of elimination, so portfolios are removed from each round depending on their strength as a potential winner. The final round of portfolios from institutions like Pathshala, Danish School of Journalism, LCC UK, Westminster UK, Ohio USA, Falmouth UK, Newport and Azad University of Ahvaz, showed such flair and extraordinary vision that the judges found it difficult to select just four finalists.
Ian Parry was a photojournalist who died while on assignment for The Sunday Times during the Romanian revolution in 1989. That was 20 years ago, he was just 24 years of age. Aidan Sullivan, then picture editor at the Sunday Times, created the Ian Parry Scholarship with Ian?s friends and family in order to build something positive from such a tragic death.
This is the second time in three years that a Pathshala student has won this prestigious award. The 2011 award was won by Rasel Chowdhury with his work “Desperate Urbanisation“.
Farzana is a contributing photographer to the Majority World Agency. Her work was recently shown at the Guardian Gallery in London.