Casa Fund Photography Prize comes to an end and surprises for the quality and creativity of the submitted photos

It´s time to announce the winners of the first Photography Prize held by Casa Fund, entitled “Povos Conectados com a Terra” (“People connected to the Earth”). The purpose of this award was to search for photos that portray the potential contained in us and in our relationship with Planet Earth. The main focus was directed to projects and organizations supported by Casa Fund over the last 5 years. More than 200 photos entered the Prize, and of these, 120 were classified. An independent invited jury analyzed and evaluated these photos, taking into account the message, originality and technical quality of the photographs.

According to Maria Amália Souza, founder and Director of Strategic Development of Casa Socio-Environmental Fund “When Casa Fund decided to create this mobilization among our supporters to access photographs that represented the wide diversity and performance in our field, we already knew that we wanted to do something different from the conventional, and more aligned with our own face. We wanted to be able to show the world images that demonstrate how the more than 3000 groups that we have supported during our 18 years of history (completed this January) live and dedicate themselves to taking care of our Planet Home. These “People Connected with Earth”, an immense diversity of people who protect the most important biomes that sustain life on our planet, are of fundamental value, and it is time for all of us to recognize that”

To establish the main jury that evaluated the photos, Casa Fund invited specialists and community leaders, who gave their grades for each image. The members of the jury were:cEdson Fly, social communicator, Human Rights activist and member of the Caranguejo Uçá Community Action; Joseane Daher, Graduated in Data Processing and Master in Social/Visual Anthropology from the Federal University of Paraná; Lara Lutzenberger, graduated in Biology by UFRGS and vice-president of Fundação Gaia; Haroldo Castro, photographer, journalist, producer-director of documentaries and conservationist with more than 50 years of experience.

Haroldo, who was also President of this jury, tells us that he was “impressed with the quality and variety of the submitted images.” The 10 finalist photos were the best scored considering a sum of the scores of the 4 judges.

At Casa Fund, we didn´t want to organize a competition where only a few would win. Therefore, we created a form of exchange, in which all the subscribers that were classified received a lifetime subscription to the Instituto Conhecimento Liberta course platform as a gift, which generously agreed to form a partnership with us and offer subscribers access to more than 170 courses on the platform. Maria Amália points out that “Instead of first, second and third places, we have three winners of professional cameras — one offered by the technical jury, another by the popular jury, and another by the Casa Fund team. We learned a lot throughout this process, and although we were not able to present everyone with cameras at this moment, we really want to show all the wonderful photographs that we received, and that deeply inspired us, in different ways. This journey is only now beginning! Immense gratitude!”

According to Haroldo Castro, President of the Jury “Photography is an essential tool for effective communication of our activities.” All 10 finalists fulfilled the mission of communicating through their images, with excellence and deserve our recognition and deep gratitude. We hope that this Award also serves as an inspiration to awaken more and more eyes to photography that contributes to the narratives and causes that move us.

Find out the winners of the 3 main categories:

The Jury’s Grand Prize went to Ranieri da Conceição Roseira, who entered with a selection of photographs entitled “New sprout on top of an old tree”. The photograph above was the best scored by the guest judges. The photo sends a profound message of connection between different generations, united in favor of what is most sacred: food. For traditional and indigenous communities, food is something that really connects people with the land, since without traditional food this connection can be lost. Ranieri will receive a Canon EOS Rebel SL3 camera with EF-S 18-55mm Lens.

The winner of the Conection Prize (Prémio Conexão) was chosen after an internal vote carried out by the Casa Socio-Environmental Fund team, which took into account the message behind the image. The big winner in this category was Ropkrãse Suya, with the photograph “Spirit of nature”. Ropkrãse is from the Tapayuna people, who were transferred to the Xingu region a long time ago and now live in two villages. In the process of moving, much of the traditional culture of their people ended up being lost and the Tapayuna are now recovering their traditions. Ropkrãse’s photo symbolizes the rescue of traditional food and how the preservation of hunting, fishing and agriculture culture are important for future generations. Ropkrãse will receive a Canon EOS Rebel T7+ camera with EF-S 18-55mm IS II Lens.

The winner of the Popular Jury Prize is Bruno Kelly with the photograph “Training course for the Apinajé indigenous volunteer brigade”. The photograph received 366 of the 1,239 votes recorded in our Popular Jury, thus being the most voted. The photo is a record of the training carried out by the Apinajé women who organized and prepared themselves to protect what is most precious to their people: their territory. Volunteer brigades have been standing out and proving to be one of the best alternatives to face forest fires, as they manage to act quickly, putting out the fire before it takes on large proportions. Bruno Kelly will receive a Canon EOS Rebel T7+ camera with EF-S 18-55mm IS II Lens.

Casa Fund also grants an “Honorable Mention” certificate to the finalists: Alanna Cristina Araújo Loiola Carneiro, Leandro Henrique do Ó Ponzi, Joelma Sousa Santos, Tulasi Resende, Açony José Santos Silva Junior, Marcinildo Saw Munduruku and André Luiz Mendes Barcelos. Our sincere thanks to you for being part of this initiative with us!