1st Place winner
Scavengers
DESCRIPTION
It is at the end of the day that the dump resembles a post-apocalyptic scenario. The atmosphere is heavy, almost palpable, interspersed with the living flames of the fires spewing toxic fumes that mix with the warm evening air. It is the time of the scavengers. The leftover food has already been disputed during the day with the animals, who are beginning to leave the place. Now there remain pieces of metal and glass that the fires manage to expose amidst the amalgam of burnt debris, the last hope at the end of another day at the dump AUTHOR
I was born in Angola 56 years ago but the war of independence in that country forced my family to restart their life in Portugal, where I completed my law studies. After practicing law for a few years, I worked in banking and finance. In 2007, responding to a strong call from my homeland, I returned to Angola to work on auditing and consulting projects focused on social development. I have always had a great attraction for the arts and the passion for photography definitely emerged with the acquisition of my first camera when I was around 20 years old. Although I published several articles in Portuguese travel and leisure magazines, photography was dormant for long years due to the demands of my work. The return to Angola, with the daily coexistence with the sounds, smells, and colors of Africa, awakened in me an enormous desire to portray people and tell their stories, stories of survival, dignity, and also of an admirable resilience. Sensitivity to the human condition thus characterizes my work. More than presenting a mere photographic work with aesthetic beauty, my great objective as a photographer and a person is to transmit emotions, feelings, and to call attention to the inequalities and the strong asymmetries that still exist in today's world 