00:00 It's time to bring you today's perspective guest and there were over 61,000 entries from nearly 4,000 different photographers around the world from 130 different countries.
00:11 But there could only be a few winners. These are the winners of the World Press Photo Awards, one of the world's most prestigious photography competitions.
00:18 We're going to look at some of the winning pictures as we talk to one of the four winners.
00:23 Lee-Anne Oluwaj joins us now from Cape Town.
00:26 Thanks very much for being with us on the programme. First of all, congratulations. Let's have a look at your picture as we talk.
00:33 You won for Photo Story of the Year, didn't you? So not just a wonderful picture itself, but a great story behind us as well.
00:40 So tell us what the story is.
00:43 Good morning. Thank you for having me. So the story of Valim Babena is the story of Dada Paul and his daughter, Farrah, and his granddaughter who live in Madagascar.
00:53 And Dada Paul's been living with dementia for 11 years and his daughter Farrah has been caring for him single-handedly for nine of those 11 years.
01:02 Initially, nine of her other siblings wanted nothing to do with him and nobody knew what was wrong with him. Farrah has never heard of the word dementia.
01:11 And so her father, who's a retired chauffeur, would come and fetch her from work every day.
01:16 And then one day he couldn't find his way home and she realised that something was wrong.
01:21 She reached out to Masondre Moudi, who's the only Alzheimer's organisation in Madagascar, and they explained to her what was happening to her father and how to take care of him.
01:31 And one of the biggest problems in Madagascar is a lack of public awareness for people so that they can understand what's happening when people are living with dementia.
01:40 What are the symptoms? And these signs and symptoms of dementia are often misunderstood and thought to be linked to witchcraft or madness.
01:49 So it's very common for people living with dementia to be stigmatised, to be ostracised from society and their families.
01:56 I mean, it's incredible to hear that nowadays, isn't it?
01:58 Let's have a look at some of the other images, because you took a whole series of them, didn't you, of the couple, you know, the couple, the grandfather and the grandchild, as they went around about their sort of everyday life.
02:10 Absolutely. So the day I met them was a Sunday morning.
02:14 They were getting ready for church and one of my favourite moments was seeing Dada Paul putting on his finest brown suit.
02:19 And he has this hat that he absolutely adores that has a victorious secret on it.
02:24 And so the family got ready to go to church.
02:27 And for me, it was just wonderful to see how Farah really makes an effort to keep Dada Paul, you know, as an active member of society, how they go to church together, how they cook together on a Sunday.
02:40 His special job is to clean the fish and it takes him hours sometimes to finish the task.
02:45 You know, they're cooking a pot on the fire and sometimes the fire even goes out.
02:49 But she gives him the space to do that so that he can feel like a valid member of their family and society.
02:56 And I think for people living with dementia, it's so common to be pushed aside and not to be made part of society or the family anymore.
03:03 And did you realise when you were taking the pictures how special they were going to be, particularly the winner, of course?
03:10 I mean, I loved meeting the family.
03:12 It was just this incredible moment.
03:14 I've been working on a project called The Big Forget for the last three years about dementia in Africa.
03:19 And for me, this was kind of a moment where I felt like I finally found the family that really portrayed everything that I wanted to show.
03:27 You know, it's a very difficult story about cultural stigma, about the belief in the supernatural, in witchcraft.
03:32 And I think telling that story can be incredibly difficult.
03:36 And you need to be very sensitive as a storyteller.
03:39 So I think it took me three years to really find the visual language, the right family that I felt touched on this very difficult social issue,
03:47 but also highlighted a story of hope, of a family which is so universal.
03:52 It's something we can all relate to.
03:54 Let's have a look at the overall winner as well.
03:56 This is by Mohamed Salem.
03:58 It shows a woman embracing the body of her niece killed along with her mother and sister when an Israeli missile struck their home in Khan Younis.
04:05 I mean, another very moving, very telling picture, isn't it?
04:11 Absolutely. I think Mohamed's picture is, it tells this universal story of love and loss in a way that is incredibly profound and beautiful and moving.
04:24 And I think the way that he's done it is just so powerful by not showing the faces of the victims,
04:30 but really moving us to action to understand that this is happening, that this is the loss,
04:36 that it's something that we can all relate to, the love of a mother or aunt or a family member.
04:42 And it's a brilliant photograph.
04:43 I'm so excited for him and I cannot wait to meet him in Amsterdam next week.
04:47 Well, let's have a look at some of the other pictures while I ask you this question.
04:51 I mean, there are all sorts of different pictures, some of them in Ukraine, some of them showing migrants fleeing in the US.
04:58 I mean, how important do you think it is to recognise really photojournalism in this way?
05:02 The World Press Photo Contest, I think, really makes an effort to highlight the stories of the year,
05:10 but the kind of stories that they choose to celebrate, I always find amazing because it's this incredible mix of what's happening in the world.
05:18 And then what I like to call the quiet stories, the stories that don't always make the news headlines, but that are so important.
05:24 They're really telling of our humanity, of our collective consciousness and where we are as humanity.
05:31 And I always think it's such a wonderful opportunity for the work of photojournalists to be celebrated by a platform like this and to have such a big global reach.
05:39 And particularly important with some of the conflicts going on around the world at the moment?
05:43 Absolutely. I think it's more important than ever for people to see these stories, to find ways to relate to them
05:52 so that they're not just news headlines, that we understand that these are families, these are people like you and me.
05:58 And how we connect to those stories is so important, how we're made aware of things happening in the world that we're not necessarily exposed to.
06:06 That is somebody's life out there. That's somebody's reality.
06:09 And I really want to just celebrate the photographers out there doing the work and making sure that the world sees these important stories.
06:17 What drives people, do you think, to do the job that you and your colleagues, if that's the right word, do?
06:23 Because it can put you in an extremely dangerous position.
06:28 I think it's more of a calling. It's not something you just choose to do.
06:35 I think you're just on that path and there's no way to not do it.
06:39 I think it's such a strong drive as a storyteller.
06:41 I think storytelling is such a universal way for us to connect to each other.
06:46 I think we're all storytellers at heart. We just find different ways of sharing those stories.
06:51 And it really is just something that's in our bones, I think.
06:55 And we love it. We love storytelling and we love sharing that with the world.
06:59 And what's next for you? Presumably you've got other images up your sleeve.
07:05 So because this is a long term project, I'll continue a few more chapters.
07:08 I don't feel like I'm done with this story.
07:11 So I'm planning to go to Benin next.
07:14 And then I'm also doing another project on girls' education and how climate change is impacting that.
07:20 And also working with female seaweed farmers in Zanzibar at the moment.
07:25 Well, it's been lovely looking at your pictures.
07:26 Thanks very much for talking to us about them and the other pictures as well.
07:30 In fact, there's exhibitions of some of the photographs going on around the world in different cities at the moment.
07:35 So if you do get a chance, look them up.
07:38 The World Press Awards, there's one of those exhibitions in London at Borough Yards.
07:43 But I'm sure you'll find it online to see if the city where you are has one of those exhibitions going on at the moment.
07:48 Because there's quite a few of them around the world.
07:49 Thanks very much for joining us on the programme today.
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