LOVE, JOY AND SORROW WERE ALL ON DISPLAY IN THIS YEAR'S VOA PHOTO CONTEST.
THE COMPETITION SAW MORE THAN 45-HUNDRED ENTRIES FROM 110 COUNTRIES.
PHOTOGRAPHERS FROM BANGLADESH MADE A STRONG SHOWING, WINNING FIRST, SECOND AND SEVENTH
PLACE IN THE RECENTLY COMPLETED COMPETITION.
THE WINNING IMAGE WAS SUBMITTED BY SOMEONE FROM DHAKA, WHO RECEIVED THE GRAND PRIZE,
MY FAVORITE AN APPLE I-PAD.
MY FAVORITE TOO AND I TALKED WITH THE CONTEST'S COORDINATOR, TERRY WING OF VOA ENGLISH, AND
WE GOT SOME VIDEO COMMENTARY FROM A FEW OF THE WINNERS AS WELL.
SO LET'S ROLL IT.
WHAT WAS THE JUDGING PROCESS LIKE?
HOW DID YOU GO THROUGH, HOW DID YOU GO FROM 4500 PHOTOS DOWN TO THE FINAL FEW?
WE ASKED EACH OF THE JUDGES TO TAKE A LOOK AT BETWEEN THREE AND 400 PHOTOS EACH AND FROM
THAT GROUP TO SELECT 20 TO 30 PHOTOS THAT THEY THOUGHT WERE THE BEST OF THE GROUP THAT
THEY RECEIVED.
THOSE PHOTOS WERE THEN PUT INTO A SECOND ROUND AND THE JUDGES TOOK A LOOK AT THAT SECOND
ROUND, ALL OF THEM TOGETHER, SOME 280 PHOTOS.
AND WE TALLIED UP THE RESULTS FROM WHAT THE DIFFERENT JUDGES HAD TO SAY AND WE WENT WITH
THE NUMBERS.
NOW I WANT US TO GO AHEAD AND FOCUS FIRST ON THE WINNING PHOTO.
WE'LL TRY AND BRING THAT WINNING PHOTO UP HERE, YES, RIGHT HERE.
THIS IS FROM BANGLADESH.
NOW TELL US WHAT WAS IT ABOUT THIS PHOTO THAT CAUSED IT TO BE THE WINNER?
THIS PHOTOGRAPH WAS TAKEN BY A YOUNG MAN FROM DHAKA, BANGLADESH WHO WENT TO A NEARBY TOWN
BY THE NAME OF GABURA, BANGLADESH.
GABURA HAS BEEN THE SCENE OF ENDLESS TRAGEDIES OVER THE YEARS AND MOST RECENTLY WAS THE VICTIM
OF A HUGE CYCLONE BACK IN 2009.
THE COMMUNITY HAS STILL NOT RECOVERED FROM IT.
"I WANTED TO PORTRAY THAT STRUGGLE IN MY PHOTO.
STRUGGLE OF GABURA PEOPLE AGAINST THE NATURE.
IN MY PHOTO AN ELDERLY WOMAN AND HER NINE KIDS WHO CAN BARELY MOVE WAS SORTING HER RICE
GRAINS AND LOOKING AT THREE DUCKLINGS WHO WERE WAITING FOR THE LADY TO LOOK AWAY AND
THEY WOULD TRY AND EAT THE GRAINS.
THE THREE DUCKLINGS HERE SYMBOLIZES THE NATURE AND THE WOMAN SYMBOLIZES THE PEOPLE OF GABURA.
THE NATURE AND THE PEOPLE COEXIST WITH EACH OTHER AT THE SAME TIME THEY ARE FIGHTING EACH
OTHER EVERY SECOND.
THE FACT THAT IT'S BLACK AND WHITE, I THINK, JUST GIVES YOU MORE CONTRAST AS TO THE CHALLENGES
THAT BOTH MAN AND ANIMAL FACE IN THIS KIND OF ENVIRONMENT.
IS SHE GOING TO GIVE THEM SOME GRAIN?
IS SHE SHARING HER GRAIN?
OR IS SHE TRYING TO PROTECT IT?
THAT'S THE QUESTION THAT IT LEAVES IN YOUR MIND.
YOU'RE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT.
I THINK SHE'S GOING TO SHARE.
I AGREE WITH YOU ACTUALLY, I THINK SHE'S SHARING AS WELL.
LET'S MOVE ON TO THE SECOND PHOTO, THE SECOND PLACE WINNER.
SAUD A FAISAL ALSO LIVES IN DHAKA, BANGLADESH.
FIRST AND SECOND PLACE IN THIS CONTEST CAME FROM THE SAME CITY.
THIS IS OF A MAN AND HIS SON.
THEY'RE AT A LEATHER PROCESSING PLANT IN DHAKA.
YOU KNOW, THERE'S A CERTAIN, PRIDE THAT THIS, THAT THIS YOUNG MAN HAS AS HE'S HOLDING HIS
SON.
YOU DON'T KNOW IF HE'S TAKEN HIS SON TO WORK BECAUSE THAT'S THE ONLY PLACE THAT THE SON
CAN BE DURING THE DAY OR WHAT THE SITUATION IS.
BUT IT DOES, I THINK IT UPSETS US IN THIS COUNTRY TO SEE SOMETHING LIKE THIS BUT THIS
IS PRETTY MUCH THE DAILY LIFE IN A CITY LIKE DHAKA WHICH HAS THE EXTREMES OF RICH AND VERY
POOR.
"HAVING ALL THESE PROBLEMS AND BEING FROM A VERY, VERY POOR COUNTRY, WE ARE HAPPY.
ACTUALLY OUR MAIN STRENGTH IS LOVE BETWEEN PEOPLE.
"
WHEN YOU LOOK AT ALL THESE PHOTOS THAT CAME FROM SO MANY DIFFERENT AREAS OF THE WORLD
YOU CAN IDENTIFY SOME COMMON THEMES.
I WANTED TO SEE IF YOU COULD ADDRESS SOME OF THOSE THEMES AND MAYBE THE ONES THAT STRUCK
YOU MOST IN LOOKING THROUGH ALL THESE SUBMISSIONS.
PEOPLE, PEOPLE THAT ARE LOVED BY THE PHOTOGRAPHER, BUT ALSO SOME PICTURES RELATING TO THE HUMAN
CONDITION BOTH IN TERMS OF DAILY STRUGGLES BUT ALSO IN TERMS OF VICTORY AND EXULTATION.
THERE'S A LOT OF HUMOR IN PHOTOS THAT WE RECEIVED.
THERE'S A LITTLE BIT OF TRAGEDY IN THE PHOTOS THAT WE RECEIVED.
I THINK IT RUNS THE GAMUT.
IT SHOWS YOU THE COMPLETE SPECTRUM OF THE HUMAN CONDITION AND I DON'T THINK WE COULD
OF ASKED FOR ANYTHING MORE.
SOME REALLY INCREDIBLE PHOTOS IN THIS YEAR CONTEST.
I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE WHAT NEXT YEAR'S CONTEST WILL BRING.
ABSOLUTELY!
I WAS JUST AMAZED BY LOOKING AT THOSE PHOTOS.
IT SHOWS YOU A GLIMPSE OF WHAT KIND OF LIFE PEOPLE ARE LIVING IN PARTS OF THE WORLD.
RIGHT, AND SORT OF IT IS A WAY TO SEE THEIR LIVES THROUGH THEIR OWN LENSE.
BEAUTIFUL SHOTS.
ABSOLUTELY.