Animal Kingdom — Annie Tong Awarded Life Framer Winning Image for February 2023
“Cattle Markets in the Dhaka City Streets” by Annie Tong has been chosen as a Life Framer’s Winning Image for the February 2023 photography competition “Animal Kingdom”.
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Based in the UK, Life Framer is a platform for discovering, sharing and exhibiting contemporary photography. They run monthly calls for entries, each with a different theme and judge who are often renowned photographers, curators, editors and gallerists themselves. The calls for entry are open internationally to everyone, and at the end of every twelve month cycle, Life Framer exhibits the winning photographs in gallery settings around the globe.
The February competition judged by London-based photographer Tim Flach, best known for his distinctive style and highly conceptual images of animals.
Nothing I have ever photographed has come close to wild-life or animal photography. I marvel at the works of Tim Flach. His highly conceptual, studio photography of animals is a whole new take on photographing animals and I admire his work greatly. I was reluctant to submit for this Life Framer competition, and if you look at the winning images for February’s Animal Kingdom competition you’ll understand why. The photography is brilliant and highly conceptual. My images of “Cattle Markets in the Dhaka City Streets” feels more like street photography in comparison. To say the least I was surprised and honoured by the fact that Tim Flach chose to this photo as one of the competition’s winning images. I think he saw something that I hadn’t, and I’m still trying to find it.
“The photographer [Annie Tong] has an eye for storytelling with detailed images that maintain a sense of visual order.”
Cattle Markets in the Dhaka City Streets
— Dhaka, Bangladesh, 2020
The Eid-ul-Azha ceremony in Bangladesh and throughout the Muslim world is marked by the sacrifice of cows, goats, sheep, or camel in remembrance and celebration of the willingness of Ibrahim to sacrifice his son Ismail as a show of faith to Allah.
In the days leading up to the Eid celebration in Bangladesh, selected streets throughout the cities are transformed into temporary cattle markets where ranchers bring their cows and goats directly to the public for purchase. Ranchers will build shelters like this one where they will live with their animals for the three days leading up to Eid.
In 2020, the Festival of Sacrifice fell directly in the middle of the Monsoon rain season — a blessing and a curse: the rain will help wash the streets clean but creates challenges for the ranchers as they try to stay comfortable in their make-shift shelters.
Upon notifying me about the award, Life Framer and Tim Flech wrote about my photograph saying:
“An image that conflicts with the story it is part of; as the cow rests calmly amongst its human owners there is no sense of the impending sacrifice. The photograph is full of life, with humans and animals sharing these temporary living spaces, the men seemingly at ease with the camera – a peaceful scene set against a jarring concept of mass slaughter in honour of faith and sharing. The photographer has an eye for storytelling with detailed images that maintain a sense of visual order.”
All fifteen winning images from the February 2023 Life Framer “Animal Kingdon” photography competition are posted on their website. Just follow the link and you can continue to explore other winning images from other monthly award categories.
— More about Life Framer —
Founded in 2013, Life Framer is a photography competition that showcases the work of emerging and established photographers from around the world. It conducts its photography awards by inviting photographers to submit their work to 12 monthly themed calls for entries. Each month has a different theme, such as “Street Life”, “Human Body”, or "Youthhood". The entries are judged by a panel of globally acclaimed judges, including photographers, curators, editors, and artists. The winners of each month receive prizes, feedback, and exposure on Life Framer’s website, social media, and exhibitions.
To learn more about the current photography competitions where you can also submit your own work, visit the Life Framer competition page on their website.
— More about The Everyday of Life Photography Project —
The photograph “Cattle Markets in the Dhaka City Streets” is part of a photographic series on the Festival of Sacrifice that I’ve captured during my time in Bangladesh. The festival is otherwise know as the Eid-ul-Azha ceremony that takes place in Bangladesh and throughout the Muslim world. It is marked by the sacrifice of cows, goats, sheep, or camel in remembrance and celebration of the willingness of Ibrahim to sacrifice his son Ismail as a show of faith to Allah.
You can view the complete photography series the Festival of Sacrifice in Bangladesh on The Everyday of Life website.
The Everyday of Life is a project by the Canadian photographer, Annie Tong. The photographs are mostly from developing and emerging nations and have been taken since 2014. She will be the first to tell you that these photographs are and long to be both uneventful and familiar. They strive to celebrate people at ease in their lives even though their lives may not be easy.
