2nd place
silver star award
Ingmar Björn Nolting
germany 
title
Somaliland
The borders of Somaliland go back to the area of the former British protectorate, which united with Italian-Somaliland to Somalia in 1960. Under the dictatorship of Barre, who seized power through a putsch nine years later, the inhabitants of the north felt increasingly deprived. The resulting fights of the guerilla group „Somaliland National Movement“ against the troops of Barre culminated in the overthrow of the regime, the adoption of a declaration of independence and the founding of the Republic of Somaliland on 18 May 1991. Although Somaliland‘s independence is not recognized under international law, it managed to build up a state from ruins.
With my photo-essay "Somaliland" I tried to take a surprising look at a region whose visual representation often has to struggle with the stereotypes of an East African crisis region. Therefore I photographed a portrait of the often overlooked country, which has been seeking international recognition for 28 years and in which nothing seems to be more important than the still young peace.
back to gallery
entry description
The Horn of Africa is regarded as one of the continent‘s most war-torn regions. Somalia in particular crashed into an ever deeper chaos of civil war and terror after the disempowerment of the Somali dictator Siad Barre in 1991. There is still no end in sight. Despite all resistance, however, an island of peaceful coexistence emerged in the north of the country. Somaliland.The borders of Somaliland go back to the area of the former British protectorate, which united with Italian-Somaliland to Somalia in 1960. Under the dictatorship of Barre, who seized power through a putsch nine years later, the inhabitants of the north felt increasingly deprived. The resulting fights of the guerilla group „Somaliland National Movement“ against the troops of Barre culminated in the overthrow of the regime, the adoption of a declaration of independence and the founding of the Republic of Somaliland on 18 May 1991. Although Somaliland‘s independence is not recognized under international law, it managed to build up a state from ruins.
With my photo-essay "Somaliland" I tried to take a surprising look at a region whose visual representation often has to struggle with the stereotypes of an East African crisis region. Therefore I photographed a portrait of the often overlooked country, which has been seeking international recognition for 28 years and in which nothing seems to be more important than the still young peace.
about the photographer
Ingmar Björn Nolting (1995) lives and works as a freelance documentary photographer in Leipzig, Germany. After finishing his A-levels, he volunteered to help the homeless and blind. Since then, Ingmar's photographic work has focused on social documentary issues, in which he sets his sights on people and their habitats, which have disappeared from the public eye. With a slower approach to his work process, he tries to understand how his protagonists think, feel and interact with each other, to absorb and understand what makes their lives. Ingmar is a founding member of „DOCKS Collective“ for humanistic photography and studied photography at University of Applied Sciences and Arts Dortmund.back to gallery
