The images taken by Pellitero and Vadillo are the winner and finalist respectively of this contest to which more than 1,500 photographs have been submitted.
This has been demonstrated by the failure of the awards of the 7th edition of the PhotoAquae photography contest, promoted by Aquona, its foundation, the Aquae Foundation and the Stockholm Water Institute (SIWI). The nurse from León Magdalena Pellitero won the first prize, while Valentin Vadillo from Burgos was a finalist in this contest created in 2015 by the Aquae Foundation to raise awareness about the vital importance of water. It is a limited resource that this year has gained special importance as it is a key element in ensuring hygienic conditions that help prevent the transmission of the COVID-19 virus.
"In Search of Water" is the title of the winning image that depicts in black and white the effort of three Sudanese girls to draw water from a well. “I am very happy that you have awarded my photography. I did it in March 2020 in South Sudan, very shortly before the lockdown was decreed. Hopefully seeing it touches some conscience, ”says the winner. “As a nurse, I worked years ago with Mundi Doctors in different countries and I experienced first-hand the difficulties that lack of water entails in daily life, the harshness of its transport, always exercised by women and children. There I learned what the African shower was; with a jug you can wash your whole body. After these experiences, it hurts me to see those taps open wasting something so fundamental for the subsistence of the planet ”.
The jury, made up of Ángeles Puerta, director of the Aquae Foundation; David Calle, creator of the Unicoos educational platform; Ania Andersch, head of SIWI, and the professional photographers Sofía Moro and Alfredo Cáliz, have had to analyze and evaluate the more than 1,500 images - many of them from professional photographers - presented at this edition.
For its part, Los Caminos del Agua, by Valentín Vadillo, an endocrinologist from Burgos and amateur photographer, has been a finalist in PhotoAquae 2021. For the members of the jury, “it is an iconic, introspective, horizon photograph, in which a crestfallen man struggles through the water. It is a photo that escapes the moment, which portrays the effort of humanity, the loneliness of people and water, and transmits the interrelation between human beings and nature ”.
Despite not being professional photographers, both Magdalena Pellitero, who will receive a prize of 1,000 euros as PhotoAquae winner, and Valentín Vadillo, have held exhibitions and received other awards and recognitions for their graphic work.
The coincidence that this year's winner is a nurse and the endocrinologist finalist has not gone unnoticed by the members of the jury, who have wanted to take advantage of it to thank and recognize in them the work of the entire health body during this pandemic year.
The PhotoAquae award wants to raise social awareness about the importance of correctly managing such a precious commodity as water. Currently in the world, 2,200 million people (3 out of 10) do not have access to drinking and available water at home, and 4,500 million (6 out of 10) do not have safe sanitation.