As the world keeps spinning around, there is an infinite number of events happening at each corner of the globe - so many, it is hard to keep up. Last year, we have received a large number of photographs capturing some of these events - here are the 10 Best Editorial Photos at BIFA 2019.
Today, Indonesia’s Sumatran orangutan is under severe threat from the incessant and ongoing depletion and fragmentation of the rainforest - listed as a critically endangered species, there are only 14,000 specimens left. As palm oil and rubber plantations, logging, road construction, mining, hunting continue to proliferate, orangutans are being forced out of their natural rainforest habitat. Organizations are trying hard to rescue them and reintegrate them into wildlife.
This fashion editorial won a Golden Camera at FEP Photographer of the year 2019 and it's one of the best 10 images at the World Photographic Cup 2019. It also won Second Place at the prestigious Tokyo International Foto Awards in 2019.
West Java, Indonesia: scavengers collect recyclable garbage for resale at a landfill. They earn around $2~5 per day. About 6,000 tons of waste is dumped here every day. Also dumps release large amount of methane, a potent greenhouse gas that traps heat in the atmosphere. Burning trash outdoors is also harmful, to the environment and people’s health. There are at least 3,000 people, including children, picking up garbage in dangerous conditions.
The magical Jeju island, known for its basalt volcanic rock, sits off South Korea. It is the home of the Haenyeo or women of the sea who free dive off the black shores of Jeju harvesting delicacies from the sea. Wearing thin rubber suits and old fashioned goggles, this group of women (50 and many are well over 70) are celebrated as a national treasure and inscribed on the UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritage, but the tradition is slowly fading as fewer women choose this hazardous profession.
Fashion is a great platform to play with colour and shape. There is freedom to explore lighting techniques and to form an engaging scenario that enhances the styling can be exciting and surprising. These images had very minimal retouching.
The image series shows Nita, from Finland. The country known as the happiest in the European Union is also in second position for its high numbers in domestic violence. Nita has been living in an abusive relationship for almost 4 years, since the birth of her two kids. This story begins when Nita decided to break-up with her abusive boyfriend and focuses on the consequences that the violence has left in her.
This uncensored, shocking shot was captured in in the Luhanskaya village, where civilians escape from a fire at a house destroyed by the air attack. The conflict between separatists and the official Ukrainian authorities gradually escalated into the war. There always at least two armed fighting sides in any war. The photographer's main objective is to show the suffering of the ordinary people whose lives are destroyed by the fights.
The honest thoughts of an EU immigrant are reflected in this photo series in the wake of Brexit. The uncertainty of what will happen to those living and working in the United Kingdom pushed the photographer to experiment in a satire with wearing British celebrity masks to see if that is enough to become a citizen.
Since 2015, Yemen has been locked in a civil war. Despite often being called ‘the forgotten war’ the consequences are very present for the people of Yemen. The UN estimates that more than 22 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, over two million people are internally displaced, half the population is at risk of famine and Save the Children estimates that 85,000 children with severe acute malnutrition may have died.
After three years of work on the topic of immigration in France, Rose Lecat wanted to document the entry of exiles on French territory with the passage of an intra-European border. These refugees, who have survived the sea and the desert, find themselves facing the mountains of the Alps which form a natural border between France and Italy, guarded day and night by the French police.