Leading Innovator Company, Canon, Photographer’s
Association of Kenya (PAK) and PAWA 254 yesterday recognized nine top photographers in the country.
The nine were recognized at a gala night at the
Kenyatta International Conference Centre following a four-month photo contest
dubbed – 2015 Canon Kenya Photography Awards.
Alice Oldenburg won the overall photographer of
the year walking away with a total of Kshs. 300,000 after winning both the
Daily Life and Nature categories while last year’s overall winner Thomas Mukoya
won the news and sports categories bagging a total of Kshs. 200,000.
“We congratulate all winners this evening. The
more we profile photography as a platform to communicate the unspoken in the
community, the more people appreciate the same. We have had great shots in all
the categories. Though we got a fewer entries this time round, we are positive
that we are nurturing young photographers out there one step at a time,” Organizing
Secretary, Photographer’s Association of Kenya, Njeri Mwangi.
She added: “Let us all embrace the art and
together lets grow it. Photography is for all genders, over the next year, we
will be starting a master’s class in photography and we encourage all female photographers
to enroll.”
Commenting on the awards, Canon Channel Account
Manager, Enan Mwakoti noted: “This is our first partnership with PAK and we
hope to grow it bigger and better in the coming years. Through trainings and
capacity building in photography, we are positive that we will grow the
photography industry in the country and beyond.”
On his part, Chief Justice Dr. Willy Mutunga
noted: “Photography takes hard work, expertise and many sacrifices. It is time
for us to give the art due recognition to encourage our children to engage in
the craft and also pay photographers well. I call upon all stakeholders and
partners in the country to support this initiative and together let us all
support our youth realize their potential.”
The awards attracted a total of 1144 entries in
just four months and saw photo enthusiasts send in their photos for nine
different categories - News, Creative, Sports, Nature, Portraiture, Daily Life,
Young photographer of the year, Special category (Climate Change), and People’s
Choice.
Other photographers that bagged prizes include:
Siegmund Kamau Muhuri for the most
promising young photographer of the year and creative categories, Peter Ndungu
for Portraiture category, John Wambugu for the Climate Change (special category)
while Peter Ndung’u won People’s Choice category following an online vote
contest on social media.
The awards saw photographers bag up to Kshs 1.1m
in prize money.
Organized by PAWA 254 and the Photographers
Association of Kenya (PAK) and sponsored by Canon and the Swiss Embassy, the 2015
Canon Kenya Photography Awards seek to not only reward excellence in the
discipline but also promote and improve photography standards in the country.
The first awards were held in December 2013 attracting
1200 entries and saw some of the top photo enthusiasts including Thomas Mukoya,
Thandiwe Muriyu and others rewarded with cash prizes, cameras and other prizes.
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