honorable mention
dan nelken united states
title
HeadStrong: The Women of Rural Uganda
Women are the unrecognized economic backbone of Uganda’s economy.
The Ugandan’s agricultural sector makes up roughly 25% of the country's GDP. While women make up 55% of the economically active population and contribute 75% of the total farm labor.
According to UNDP “Gender Assessment” (2015) “…attitudes, beliefs and practices that serve to exclude women are still deeply entrenched throughout the country. This means that unbalanced power relations between men and women continue to have a negative impact on women's agency, their human capital development, and their ability to contribute equitably to Uganda's growth and prosperity.”
Uganda has a median age of 15.9 years due to one of the highest birth rates in the world which leads to inadequate housing, overcrowding and increased poverty.
Process
I am working with a well known Ugandan author, Beatrice Lamwaka who has been awarded by Uganda Registration Service Bureau for her literary contributions in 2018. She and I have developed a work plan based on my previous work and interviews on this project. We will meet and interview women regarding their experiences, opinions related to economic well being and customs and practices
The project will allow the women to have their own voice, including those who are comfortable in traditional roles as well as women who are attempting to break through traditional barriers. A voice that is rarely heard.
Photographing the women in front of mosquito netting serves a dual purpose. The materials quasi transparency partially isolated the women from their environment at the same time it allowed them to be noticed, appreciated, and valued for their labor and economic contributions. It serves as a metaphor for the preventive care that is often lacking where needed most, since over 5,000 Ugandan children under the age of five die each year from malaria.
My photography career began my junior year as a Graphic Arts majors at Pratt Institute when I was required to take a two-semester course in photography, a course I did not want to take, being obsessed with painting. At that time I could not comprehend that my adult biography and life time profession would start after I attended my first class. The life transforming experience occurred when I saw Robert Frank’s “Parade, Hoboken, New Jersey.” For the first time, I realized that I could crop and frame the world around me in countless creative ways. At that moment I decided that I wanted to be a photographer!
W. Eugene Smith and Cornell Capa, both of whom I knew personally, influenced my decision to become a photojournalist. Their dedication and perseverance as photographers had a great impact on my decision to follow their lead.
For a number of years I had assignments from some of the leading magazines in America. As economic circumstances changed in the publishing world, I pivoted to studio photography, engaging editorial and advertising clients. Simultaneously I pursued my own personal projects.
Currently my time is divided between assignments for design firms, teaching and pursuing my personal projects, which are always multiyear endeavors centered on individuals or groups that exist outside the mainstream of society.
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entry description
BackgroundWomen are the unrecognized economic backbone of Uganda’s economy.
The Ugandan’s agricultural sector makes up roughly 25% of the country's GDP. While women make up 55% of the economically active population and contribute 75% of the total farm labor.
According to UNDP “Gender Assessment” (2015) “…attitudes, beliefs and practices that serve to exclude women are still deeply entrenched throughout the country. This means that unbalanced power relations between men and women continue to have a negative impact on women's agency, their human capital development, and their ability to contribute equitably to Uganda's growth and prosperity.”
Uganda has a median age of 15.9 years due to one of the highest birth rates in the world which leads to inadequate housing, overcrowding and increased poverty.
Process
I am working with a well known Ugandan author, Beatrice Lamwaka who has been awarded by Uganda Registration Service Bureau for her literary contributions in 2018. She and I have developed a work plan based on my previous work and interviews on this project. We will meet and interview women regarding their experiences, opinions related to economic well being and customs and practices
The project will allow the women to have their own voice, including those who are comfortable in traditional roles as well as women who are attempting to break through traditional barriers. A voice that is rarely heard.
Photographing the women in front of mosquito netting serves a dual purpose. The materials quasi transparency partially isolated the women from their environment at the same time it allowed them to be noticed, appreciated, and valued for their labor and economic contributions. It serves as a metaphor for the preventive care that is often lacking where needed most, since over 5,000 Ugandan children under the age of five die each year from malaria.
about the photographer
A photographer and educator born in Tel Aviv, Israel of Holocaust refugees, I emigrated with my parents & younger brother to Montreal, Canada when I was 7, each one of us carrying one suitcase and only knowing how to speak Hebrew. A year later we moved to Toronto, waiting to immigrate to the US, which happened three years later with a move to Chicago, where I tried to assimilate to a new culture and school without the success that I was hoping for.My photography career began my junior year as a Graphic Arts majors at Pratt Institute when I was required to take a two-semester course in photography, a course I did not want to take, being obsessed with painting. At that time I could not comprehend that my adult biography and life time profession would start after I attended my first class. The life transforming experience occurred when I saw Robert Frank’s “Parade, Hoboken, New Jersey.” For the first time, I realized that I could crop and frame the world around me in countless creative ways. At that moment I decided that I wanted to be a photographer!
W. Eugene Smith and Cornell Capa, both of whom I knew personally, influenced my decision to become a photojournalist. Their dedication and perseverance as photographers had a great impact on my decision to follow their lead.
For a number of years I had assignments from some of the leading magazines in America. As economic circumstances changed in the publishing world, I pivoted to studio photography, engaging editorial and advertising clients. Simultaneously I pursued my own personal projects.
Currently my time is divided between assignments for design firms, teaching and pursuing my personal projects, which are always multiyear endeavors centered on individuals or groups that exist outside the mainstream of society.
back to gallery