Winners of the Alfred Fried Photography Award 2018
Ángeles
Alfred Fried Photography Award – Winner Alfred Fried Photography Award Medail
Constanza Portnoy, Argentina: Ángeles – or: What love can save Two illnesses that defy easy explanation have crippled Jorge and his wife Vero permanently. Turning one into a man without arms or legs, the other into a woman bound to the wheelchair. But they found each other, they love each other – the result of this love is their daughter Ángeles. Only images of desperation could emerge from such a constellation, one might think. But the opposite is true. Argentinian photographer Constanza Portnoy found – and captured – a story of courage and care, of bravery and tenderness, of confidence and peace of mind, when she met these three very special people. And of the girl Ángeles she says that this child is “full of light” and equipped “with a deep knowledge of justice and a respect of differences”. Ángeles turns this into appreciation and empathy for and cooperation with her parents. Again: Even when selecting the best image of peace at the Alfred Fried Award not everything is beautiful, nor whole, not everything is joyful that we have seen and chosen here. What we do see, even here and especially in the photographs by Constanza Portnoy, is the power of people to make the most of their fate in an admirable way. Here a war was won, a war that wreaked bodily destruction. But which was not stronger than the peace that Jorge, Vero and Ángeles carry in their hearts. Constanza Portnoy was born in Buenos Aires in the 1980s, years when Argentina lived through a terrible military dictatorship. Human rights, brutally violated during this dictatorship, are her theme and have determined her choice of profession. At the age of 23 she completed her psychology degree at the University of Buenos Aires with a distinction, then worked for many years with children and adults in institutions for the handicapped. She came to photography out of her own accord, travelled through Latin America, took her cue from socially committed photographers like Mary Ellen Mark and Darcy Padilla. In a journal that is as wise as it is touching, about the work selected here, she describes the need to participate in the life of those you photograph before you press the releaser. To be patient instead of giving in to the instinct for capturing the most impressive image. And precisely because she is like she is, has Constanza Portnoy achieved images that made a big impression on the jury. (Text by Peter-Matthias Gaede)
Photos by Constanza Portnoy
Alfred Fried Photography Award – Winner Alfred Fried Photography Award Medail
Constanza Portnoy, Argentina: Ángeles – or: What love can save Two illnesses that defy easy explanation have crippled Jorge and his wife Vero permanently. Turning one into a man without arms or legs, the other into a woman bound to the wheelchair. But they found each other, they love each other – the result of this love is their daughter Ángeles. Only images of desperation could emerge from such a constellation, one might think. But the opposite is true. Argentinian photographer Constanza Portnoy found – and captured – a story of courage and care, of bravery and tenderness, of confidence and peace of mind, when she met these three very special people. And of the girl Ángeles she says that this child is “full of light” and equipped “with a deep knowledge of justice and a respect of differences”. Ángeles turns this into appreciation and empathy for and cooperation with her parents. Again: Even when selecting the best image of peace at the Alfred Fried Award not everything is beautiful, nor whole, not everything is joyful that we have seen and chosen here. What we do see, even here and especially in the photographs by Constanza Portnoy, is the power of people to make the most of their fate in an admirable way. Here a war was won, a war that wreaked bodily destruction. But which was not stronger than the peace that Jorge, Vero and Ángeles carry in their hearts. Constanza Portnoy was born in Buenos Aires in the 1980s, years when Argentina lived through a terrible military dictatorship. Human rights, brutally violated during this dictatorship, are her theme and have determined her choice of profession. At the age of 23 she completed her psychology degree at the University of Buenos Aires with a distinction, then worked for many years with children and adults in institutions for the handicapped. She came to photography out of her own accord, travelled through Latin America, took her cue from socially committed photographers like Mary Ellen Mark and Darcy Padilla. In a journal that is as wise as it is touching, about the work selected here, she describes the need to participate in the life of those you photograph before you press the releaser. To be patient instead of giving in to the instinct for capturing the most impressive image. And precisely because she is like she is, has Constanza Portnoy achieved images that made a big impression on the jury. (Text by Peter-Matthias Gaede)
Photos by Constanza Portnoy
