Judges
2020 Winners
Courtesy of Raul Ariano
Raul Ariano
Raul Ariano is an Italian photographer splitting his time between China & Vietnam. He has been based in Asia since 2011 previously working and living in Tokyo and Hong Kong. Alongside commissioned works, Raul is focused in long terms project mostly in China and whole Asia. He is represented by Redux Images in New York City and Luz Photos in Milan.
Selected editorial clients: The Ceo Magazine (Australia), The Wall Street Journal (Usa), Monitor on Psychology (Usa), NPR (USA), The Globe and Mail (Canada) Vice (Canada), Die Zeit (Germany), Porsche Consulting Magazine (Germany), Vogue (China), Liberation (France), New York Times (USA) among others.
Awards: Moscow International Foto Award, The Fence, World Report Award, Alfred Fried Photography Award, Felix Schoeller Photo Award, PDN Photo Annual 2019, Sony World Photography Award 2020, HELLERAU photography award 2020. Exhibitions: World Report Award 2019 (Lodi, Italy) , The Fence 2019 (Brooklyn, New York City), OK gallery (Dresden, Germany), HELLERAU 2020 (Dresden, Germany)
Professional: Winning Entry
LGBT community has been discriminated since 1979 when the China’s communist party criminalized the “hooliganism”. In 1997, the Chinese government abolished the crime of “hooliganism,” in which the term included homosexual activities. In 2001, homosexuality was removed from China's list of psychiatric disorders, yet the LGBT community still feel stigmatized. Chinese traditions are family oriented and so most of the people avoid 'coming out' to their parents or relatives fearing a negative response. This has been compounded by the one child policy, which means that parents only have one child to produce grand-children and continue the family legacy. Children are bought up with the expectation of having a grandchildren, eventually leading to pressure the LGBT children to conform to a heterosexual existence in order to give birth.
Watch Raul and Amnon BarTur discuss his work and winning images here...
Raul Ariano Interview with Amnon BarTur
COVID-19 Reflections...
Spring Hasn’t Come Yet
I was traveling to Chengdu when the Coronavirus broke out, it started in Wuhan, a city in central China before spreading across China and rest of the world.
China locked down cities and millions of people were in self quarantine during the Spring festivals, which has been described as the largest quarantine in human history.
I had been photographing everyday of what happened around me in Shanghai, the city I have been calling home for the last 5 years, focusing on what I felt most during the phases of the spread: fear, uncertainty and distance.
I let the city talk for me, express my emotions and hopefully people’s emotions during the lockdown and its aftermath.
Hopefully spring will come soon.