photo.circle

[ Photos of Risk ]

Photos of Risk is a photo contest organized by the Nepal Risk Reduction Consortium and managed by photo.circle. The contest received a total of 448 photographs submitted by 105 photographers. The contest was open to professional as well as non- professional photographers. Photographers of any nationality could make submissions, as long as the photographs were taken in Nepal.

Singaporean photographer Edwin Koo won First Prize worth NPR 50,000 for his moving portrait of Kishun Devi Yadav, looking at the river crossing that was once the East West Highway.

Nepali photographer Nibendra Pradhananga won Second Prize worth NPR 30,000 for a vivid photograph that portrayed a scene in Yetkha, near Hanuman Dhoka, Kathmandu. Cooking gas leaking from a kitchen set five houses ablaze and fire fighters and the community fought to put it out.

Nepali photojournalist Kiran Panday won Third Prize worth NPR 15,000 for a photograph that showed students practicing an earthquake drill at Adarsha Secondary School, Lalitpur.

20 special mentions worth NPR 5000 each were awarded to photographers including: Chandra Shekhar Karki, Devendra BC, Dhruba Ale, Ganesh Thapa, Kushal Goyal, Makar Shrestha , Manoj Shrestha, Nabin Baral, Nabin Shrestha, Narendra Shrestha, Paul Wright, Prakash Timilsena, Ram Humagai, Sailendra Kharel, and Yatra Thulung.

The contest was judged by a panel of judges: Mr. Bikas Rauniar- Photo Editor of Kantipur Publications, Ms. Victoria Kianpour- International Disaster Risk Programme Manager at UNDP and Mr. Satish Sharma- independent writer and photographer.

Among the major natural hazards, floods and landslides are the most recurrent in Nepal. More people are killed by disasters in Nepal compared to any other country in South Asia; on average two lives are lost to natural disasters every day. As the Koshi River flood disaster has vividly demonstrated, outdated and under-serviced infrastructure, such as dams, barrages and embankments, add to the disaster risk in the country. Nepal lies in an active seismic zone, and is at high risk for earthquakes. A devastating earthquake does not occur frequently; when it does occur, the damage would be significant.

“The winning photos communicate Nepal’s key hazards and what needs to be done to reduce disaster risk. The wide range of subjects and landscapes demonstrate that Nepali communities in all parts of the country are vulnerable to disasters.” said Mr. Robert Piper, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator. “These images will help raise awareness that actions to reduce risk need to be taken, immediately, to save lives.”

The objective of this photo competition was to get photo enthusiasts to think about disaster risk and to advocate for the need to address risk throughout the country with their photographs.

Winning photographs will be curated into a traveling exhibition in January 2011.

For more contest info please Please visit http://www.un.org.np/nrrc/photosofrisk/ for contest details.

Singaporean photographer Edwin Koo won First Prize on Photos of Risk photo contest for his moving portrait of Phulki Devi Sadar, a 30-year old woman who was displaced by the 2008 Koshi floods and had to settle for potatoes and vegetables in place of Dasain festivities.

Nibendra Pradhananga won Second Prize on Photos of Risk photo contest for a vivid photograph that portrayed a scene in Yetkha, near Hanuman Dhoka, Kathmandu. Cooking gas leaking from a kitchen set five houses ablaze and fire fighters and the community fought to put it out.

Kiran Panday won Third Prize on Photos of Risk photo contest for a photograph that showed students practicing an earthquake drill at Adarsha Secondary School, Lalitpur.

[ PHOTOS OF RISK ] MOBILE EXHIBITION

Photos of Risk mobile exhibit @ Patan Durbar Square.

@ Nyatapol square, Bhaktapur.

@ Lainchaur, Kathmandu.

@ Gongabu, Kathmandu.