Applications for the prestigious 15th edition of the Carmignac Photojournalism Award extended to September 9

Bénédicte Kurzen for Fondation Carmignac.

Applications for the 15th edition of the Carmignac Photojournalism Award have been extended to September 9, 2024. 

Founded in 2009 by Edward Carmignac, every year, the award funds the production of an investigative photo reportage on human rights violations and geo-strategic issues in the world.

This year, the award is dedicated to South East Asia and the violations of human and environmental rights caused by illegal fishing and overfishing. 

A map of fishing areas in South East Asia (Image credit: the Foundation Carmignac)

Since the mid-20th century, small-scale local fishing has given way to industrial deep-sea fishing, which is affecting oceans all over the world. To meet the unfathomably high demand, those involved do not hesitate to resort to illegal fishing and overfishing, with devastating consequences.

The winners of the 14th edition of the award will be announced in early September with the theme of Afghanistan, and is devoted to exposing the conditions of women and girls in the region.

The 13th edition focused on e-waste in Ghana, and the winning photographs are included in this article.

Accra, Ghana, February 8, 2023. Horses forage in a section of the now-demolished Agbogbloshie scrap yard site. Old Fadama and Agbogbloshie, separated by the Korle Lagoon, were thriving wetlands decades ago. (Image credit: Muntaka Chasant for Fondation Carmignac)

The 15th edition of the Carmignac Prize supports the production of a nine-month investigative photo report documenting these violations and the consequences of intensive fishing in Southeast Asia.

Interested photographers are invited to submit their applications before 9 September 2024 at 11:59 p.m. 

A jury consisting of experts on the subject and contemporary photography will meet in Paris in September to select the winning project, which will then run from October 2024, to June 2025, and will travel spreading its important message after that. 

Timber Market, Accra, Ghana. February 16, 2023. Ali, a scrap worker, uses a subwoofer magnet to recover metal debris — including iron nails — buried under the soil following a fire outbreak that razed down hundreds of wooden shacks at an informal settlement near the Timber Market, across from Old Fadama. Scores of pickers scrambled for scrapping opportunities following the fire outbreak. (Image credit: Muntaka Chasant for Fondation Carmignac)

Behind this out-of-control fishing industry in South East Asia and beyond, which is threatening biodiversity, human rights violations are increasing: deplorable working conditions, widespread forced labour and human trafficking are transforming many seas into no-go areas. 

Southeast Asia, which has one of the most diverse marine ecosystems in the world, is the centre of gravity for global fisheries. According to SEAFDEC (the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center), the region contributed approximately 52% of the total output by fisheries in 2018, representing more than $21 billion. 

Today it is one of the areas most threatened by illegal fishing practices and human rights violations, particularly in the South China Sea, the Gulf of Thailand as well as the Philippine and Indonesian archipelagos.

Ghana, Accra, Zongo Lane, Spring 2023. Zongo Lane is like an Alibaba cavern. Hundreds of small shops for all types of electronics components, modules, and general parts populate the narrow streets of this old Accra neighborhood. Repairers and often parts sellers. Broken electronics get dismantled and reused. Ghanaians, but also Nigerians work here. It also used to be the marketplace for Used and Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (UEEE) coming from Europe but the narrow streets were not allowing all the containers to park and of fload without creating a complicated traffic situation. While in Europe the independent repairers have almost disappeared, an entire economic ecosystem survives on this craft. (Image credit: © B é n é dicte Kurzen for Fondation Carmignac / NOOR)

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