Humans of the World — Annie Tong Awarded Life Framer Winning Image for December 2022
“Young Men with Goats” by Annie Tong has been chosen as a Life Framer’s Winning Image for the December 2022 photography competition “Humans of the World”.
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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 December competition was judged by Amanda Hajjar, founding director of Fotografiska New York.
My submission for the December 2022 “Humans of the World” competition was one of my favourite photographs from my ongoing photography project The Everyday of Life. The photo is titled “Young Men with Goats” and was taken in Dhaka city Bangladesh in July of 2020, just before the religious celebration of Eid-ul-Azha.
From each month’s entries Life Framer judges select fifteen overall winning images including a first and second place selection as well as additional editor’s picks. This month’s competition was judged by Amanda Hajjar, founding Director of Fotografiska New York. My photograph was selected as one of the fifteen winning images for the competition.
Young Men and Goats
— Dhaka, Bangladesh, 2020
These young men have been put in charge of looking after the family goats. For the next few days they will feel like the family pets, but all too soon they be sacrificed to Allah in celebration of their faith.
Also known as The Festival of Sacrifice, 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 her awarding my photograph as a winning image award, Amanda Hajjar also writes:
“There’s an immediate sense of pride and responsibility as soon as you set eyes on the subjects within this scene – it almost feels as if the photographer has captured the exact moment that these boys become young adults. It provides an interesting snapshot of inherited traditional roles – the colors and tones of the image really lending themselves to the atmosphere, as if visually representing the noises of the neighborhood.”
All fifteen winning images from the December 2022 Life Framer “Humans of the World” 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 “Young Men with Goats” 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.
