honorable mention
Niall Readfern united kingdom
title
Islanders
The majority of people that make up the island communities are from elsewhere in Uganda and East Africa, often serial offenders cast out from the villages they once called home, escaping the the reach of authority by fleeing to a place that the government shows little interest for. Others come to the islands to seek their fortune, fishing for the notorious Nile Perch. They instead find a exhausted environment, over-fished and under-stocked, unlike the stories of abundance they may have heard from those who were there 30 years previous. Few in the communities were born and bred in the area and even fewer have roots that go back more than two generations. I've come to see each small fishing camp as made up of a rag tag bunch of misfits and outsiders. I am moved by how much love and support there is for people who arrive as strangers with nothing but hope for a fresh start, and who before long are embraced as a brother, sister, son or daughter.
These photographs represent a small selection taken from a larger project, showing some of the people who live on the lake, as well as the place they call home.
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entry description
The Islands of Lake Victoria and the people who reside here continue to fascinate me. I have worked amongst the fisher-folk communities of the Koome Archipelago for the past three years. Over that time my experiences and interactions have shaped and refined my understanding of this unique location.The majority of people that make up the island communities are from elsewhere in Uganda and East Africa, often serial offenders cast out from the villages they once called home, escaping the the reach of authority by fleeing to a place that the government shows little interest for. Others come to the islands to seek their fortune, fishing for the notorious Nile Perch. They instead find a exhausted environment, over-fished and under-stocked, unlike the stories of abundance they may have heard from those who were there 30 years previous. Few in the communities were born and bred in the area and even fewer have roots that go back more than two generations. I've come to see each small fishing camp as made up of a rag tag bunch of misfits and outsiders. I am moved by how much love and support there is for people who arrive as strangers with nothing but hope for a fresh start, and who before long are embraced as a brother, sister, son or daughter.
These photographs represent a small selection taken from a larger project, showing some of the people who live on the lake, as well as the place they call home.
about the photographer
Based on the Islands of Lake Victoria in Uganda.back to gallery