Nanna Navntoft (Danish School of Media and Journalism)
Gold | Portrait
Nadja Engsig
“When I was 8-12 years old I was sexually abused by a friend of my father’s. In this same period of time my school paid a lot of attention to the fact that I grew a lot. They saw it as me gaining weight. At this point I started thinking to myself that it was easier to be the one who was fat, than the one who was sexually abused. It was just so much easier to relate to.”
Nadja has recently started to receive treatment. On her way home after the session to men walk by her on the sidewalk: “Even if I received 1300 euros I would never fuck that,” one said loudly to the other as they were passing Nadja. Just hours before in treatment Nadja had opened up, and told about the abuse for the first time in her life.
Jacob Moscovitch (University of Missouri)
Silver | Portrait
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Jonathan Ronsholt and Oliver Kongstad embrace each other for a portrait in February 2020 in their apartment in Aarhus, Denmark. "We hold each other so tightly that two bodies unify and two faces blend into a mirrored image," Jonathan said. The two men have been dating for more than a year.
Tatiana Bormatova (DocDocDoc)
Bronze | Portrait
Sergey
is from Krivoy Rog. He has distant relatives in Ukraine. He is the strongest person in social house for homless called Teremok (Russian for «little hut»), and one of the few who receive pension. Money runs out quickly and there is never enough to buy cigarettes. Sergey laments the fact that the volunteers bring too little tobacco. When I visited Teremok the other time, I was told Sergey had left.
“I was in Simferopol, then I called a friend. He said: ‘If you don’t want to go to the monastery, you can live with the volunteers.’ There are priests in the monastery, and all the stuff. You can’t smoke, you must work every day. But I want to recover, or just to rest.”
Solmaz Daryani (Danish School of Media and Journalism)
Award of Excellence | Portrait
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"I was judged so much by my female friends in school for not being like them and not caring about things they care.I think maybe when I was younger,I wished more I could just be like everyone else because then things would be easier.it's not because I have a problem being different. the problem is people's judgmental way of thinking." Frei, 22, is a transgender person.He sensed that he did not feel comfortable with the gender assigned to him at birth and didn't have any idea about being transgender by the time he was 13. Something inside him always felt different. Struggling with depression in his childhood made him feel vulnerable among his peers.It was not until October 2018 that he chose to live as he had always felt; like a man. At 20, he was diagnosed with bipolar and ADHD. Transitioning has made him willing to treat his bipolar and to fight united against the stigma. "stigma of being a transgender person definitely exists in Denmark.I do see it in different ways every."
Sergei Belov (DocDocDoc)
Award of Excellence | Portrait
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Skater Girls in Russian suburbians
Tatiana Bormatova (DocDocDoc)
Award of Excellence | Portrait
Valeriy
, 69 y.o.. Born in Balaklava. No family. Volunteers took him from a social centre for the homeless, where he couldn’t find help. When Valeriy was sleeping on a bench, teenagers threw a firecracker at him and injured his face. He has a large malignant tumor on his back.
“My own brother sold the flat, declared me dead. I came to the police, and they told me: ‘Valera, go get your death certificate.’
It’s too early for me to kick the bucket yet. I feel young, even though I’m 69. I think I’ll make it to my old man’s age. He died early, at 85.”
Jennifer Mosbrucker (University of Missouri)
Award of Excellence | Portrait
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With amazing grace and unending selflessness, Kim Carroll has been fighting for family since she became pregnant with her oldest son at just 14 years old. Through hard work and true grit, Kim broke a chain of abuse that gripped her family for generations. Now, Kim continues to care for her family by raising her 2-year-old grandson Adam, who she and her husband Steven will soon adopt. Though she believes she was saved by Jesus as a child, Kim is awaiting the day she can be born again.
Katrine Noer (Danish School of Media and Journalism)
Award of Excellence | Portrait
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Each year around 20 children are born with Down's Syndrome in Denmark. Milika Holten is one of them. Milika's mother, Stinne Holten, did not know about the diagnosis until Milika was born. Today Stinne is happy that she did not know about the diagnosis, or else she probably would have chosen abortion.
Alexey Pavlov (DocDocDoc)
Award of Excellence | Portrait
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Erkhan, a boy suffering from panic attacks.