More than 160 photo reporters from over 37 countries have taken part in the second edition of WaRS – War And Revolutionary Stories, the international photography award created by Associazione 46° Parallelo/Atlante delle Guerre e dei Conflitti del Mondo and Montura, sponsor of the contest, together with the NGO INTERSOS and Fondazione Museo Storico del Trentino.
The attention for photography and for high-quality photojournalism has always been part of our project: the opportunity to reward photo reporters from all over the world for bringing our audience closer to the reality they depict was a long-time dream. A dream that we were finally able to make true in 2019, and then again in 2021, with a renewed attention to all aspects of humanitarian crises.
Two were the categories for this year’s award: one dedicated to COVID-19 stories, and one for conflicts and humanitarian crises. “The reason we added a Covid-19 category” explains Fabio Bucciarelli, photo reporter and art director of the award “is that the pandemic, besides changing our lives, has also changed the way photojournalists conduct their work. Due to the restrictions on travel, many were forced to photograph and rediscover their home territory, throwing themselves into potentially very long projects”.
“The winners – Bucciarelli continues – as well as other participants, have submitted long-term projects they had dedicated months to, even years. This is in line with the way we operate, too: taking time to tell stories, to get close to the people, to create empathy. A journalistic practice that, we believe, can be an antidote to fake news”.
The second edition of WaRS saw the participation of photo reporters from all kinds of countries, with proposals which varied greatly from each other. “The winners and the four finalists – Bucciarelli concludes – have submitted very different works, but in general all of the projects were highly heterogeneous: a testimony to how the world of photojournalism is extremely lively and in ferment”.
Cover image: a photo from the winning reportage in the “conflicts” category: Giles Clarke, Yemen.
