Winners of MFI-YES BANK National
Press Photo Contest 2012 Declared
Mumbai, August 21, 2012: Media Foundation of India
(MFI) in association with YES
BANK, India’s fourth largest private sector bank, today announced the winners
of the MFI-YES BANK National Press Photo
Contest – 2012.
Mumbai-based
photojournalist Mandar Deodhar of India
Today news magazine was adjudged the winner of the “Picture of the Year”
award for his photograph of a lone shopkeeper battling a massive fire at
Sara-Sahara and Manish market shopping malls in South Mumbai. The picture was
unanimously chosen by an eminent jury that comprised of award-winning
international photojournalists Pablo Bartholomew, Kevin Frayer and Arko Datta.
The contest received over 6500 photographs submissions,
sent by more than 200 photographers for the six categories under contention. Mandar
Deodhar will be awarded the grand prize of Rs 75,000 at an awards ceremony
scheduled in October. Additionally, three cash prizes worth Rs 50,000, Rs
30,000 and Rs 20,000 will be awarded to category winners in each of the six
categories.
“I
am extremely happy to have won the grand prize. I was not expecting it at all
as the MFI contest is a national contest and some of the best photographs from
Kashmir and other places compete for the top prize,” said 40-year-old Deodhar
in his first reaction.
“I
was on the terrace of a building when I noticed that some firemen were
reluctant to climb on top of a metal roof because it was hot and a bit
dangerous. But, an ordinary shopkeeper snatched the water pipe from them,
climbed on that roof and started bravely battling the fire. I found that
interesting,” said Deodhar, who has done stints with publications like Lokmat, Bombay Times, and Mid-Day
before joining India Today in 2007.
“This
photograph of a single man fighting the fire went beyond the realm of just spot
news and spoke to us on many levels. The jury unanimously felt that this image
needed to be recognized and honoured as the Picture of the Year 2012.
And while it won 3rd place in the spot news category, it surpassed both in its
category and every other winning image in the competition,” said Jury member Pablo
Bartholomew, explaining the jury decision.
“It
was very strong and layered, both beautiful and terrifyingly tragic. Adding to
its beauty was the near monochromatic colourlessness of the
tones, the bleak sadness of an unwinnable war against the fire, of a stark
consumed, devastated urban landscape, at the point of no return and within this
is setting is this human figure that one cannot help but gape and
laud the courage, spirit and strength. The body language of this figure engaged
in battle, the immense tenacity to fight on against all odds was what made it a
compelling and enduring winning image,” he said on behalf of the three-member
jury.
Jury
member Kevin Frayer of The Associated Press observed “The picture of the year is striking in many ways. But for me it
is simply one man fighting alone something far bigger then himself...a kind of
a "David and Goliath" scene. The fire has razed the entire market yet
he battles on. The viewer can study the sheer determination as he fights to
save what he can. It is strong photojournalism in its most simple form."
Ranjit
Hoskote, Media Foundation of India Chairman and poet /art curator
said, “I am happy that YES BANK has stepped forward to partner MFI National
Press Photo Contest from this year. I am certain that this partnership will
help strengthen the MFI National Press Photo Contest brand and help broaden its
activities across India. I would like to thank our eminent jury for doing such
a fantastic job for the second consecutive year.”
Commenting on the association and the contest, Dr. Rana Kapoor, Managing Director and CEO,
YES BANK, said, "We are pleased to be involved with this unique
initiative which is highlighting the importance of photo journalism in print
media, as their exemplary efforts need far greater appreciation and
recognition. These photo media stalwarts consistently narrate to us highly relevant
stories predicated on images which at times cannot be expressed as effectively
through words. We look forward to making this an annual event in association
with MFI.”
About Media Foundation of India
Media
Foundation of India is a not-for-profit trust started byfour Mumbai-based media
professionals as an independent platform to organise media-relatedactivities
that could extend beyond journalistic endeavours to promote a knowledgeexchange
on wide-ranging contemporary issues. MFI National Press Photo Contest is India’s
only national-level contest for professional press photographers and is in its
second year.
About Yes Bank
YES BANK, India’s fourth
largest private sector Bank, is the outcome of the professional &
entrepreneurial commitment of its Founder, Dr. Rana Kapoor and his top
management team, to establish a high quality, customer centric, service
driven, private Indian Bank catering to the Future Businesses of India.
YES BANK has adopted international best practices, the highest standards of
service quality and operational excellence, and offers comprehensive banking
and financial solutions to all its valued customers. YES BANK has a knowledge
driven approach to banking, and a superior customer experience for its retail,
corporate and emerging corporate banking clients. YES BANK is steadily evolving
as the Professionals’ Bank of India with the vision of “Building the Best
Quality Bank of the World in India” by 2015.
MFI Yesbank
National Press Photo Contest 2012
List of all
Award Winners
Picture of the Year: Mandar Deodhar/India Today
General
News
First Prize - Arijit
Sen/Hindustan Times
Second Prize – Manish Swaroop/The Associated Press
Third Prize – Prasad Gori/Hindustan Times
Honorable Mention 1 - Ajay Agarwal/Hindustan Times
Honorable Mention 2 – Raj k Raj/Hindustan Times
Honorable Mention 3 - Ajay Agarwal/Hindustan Times
Spot News
First Prize – Salil Bera/The Week
Second Prize – Sachin Kadvekar/Fotocorp
Third Prize – Mandar Deodhar/India Today
Honorable Mention 1 – Anshuman Poyrekar/Hindustan Times
Honorable Mention 2 – Dar Yasin/The Associated Press
Honorable Mention 3 – Partha Paul/The Indian Express
Daily Life
First Prize – Vijayanand Gupta/Hindustan Times
Second Prize – Sivaram V/Reuters
Third Prize – Prasad Gori/Hindustan Times
Honorable Mention 1 – Shankar Lattur/The Times of India
Honorable Mention 2 – Sachin Vaidya/Saamana
Honorable Mention 3 – Swastik Pal/Freelance
Sports
First Prize – Senthil Kumaran/Trikaya Photos
Second Prize – Sudipto Das/The Times of India
Third Prize – Manvender Vashist/PTI
Honorable Mention – KR Deepak/The Hindu
Art &
Culture
First Prize – Raul Irani/Open Magazine
Second Prize – Rajesh Singh/The Associated Press
Third Prize – Shantanu Das/Bombay Times
Honorable Mention – Chhandak Pradhan/Freelance
Best Photo
Stories
First Prize – Rafiq Maqbool/The Associated Press
Second Prize – Dar Yasin//The Associated Press
Third Prize – Zishaan Akbar Latif/Freelance
Honorable Mention – Nishant Ratnakar/Freelance
To view all the winning images, log on to Media Foundation of India website
