Photocrati is proud to announce the 2011 Photocrati Fund winner and top finalists. We had a wonderful time catching up with industry leaders and photographers at this year’s fabulous LOOK3 Festival of the Photograph in Charlottesville, Virginia. And we’re very grateful to our judges for continuing to support the photography community through their efforts with Photocrati: Jim Brandenburg, Michael “Nick” Nichols and Steve McCurry. With more than 400 applicants to the grant this year, competition was fierce and judging was a challenge.

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2011 PHOTOCRATI FUND RESULTS

Paul Colangelo ~ 2011 Photocrati Fund Fellow

Surviving Todagin ~ Paul Colangelo — the 2011 Photocrati Fund Fellow — will lead a four-month-long expedition on Togadin Mountain in the Sacred Headwaters region of British Columbia (June-Sept. 2011) to document the unfolding story of the conflict between development, conservation and livelihoods. Surviving Togadin, part of the Sacred Headwaters, Sacred Journey endeavor, focuses on the world’s largest herd of Stone sheep, their endangered habitat and the Tahltan First Nations people who depend on these animals. The expedition team includes: Dr. Wes Sechrest from Global Wildlife Residence, Dr. Wade Davis, National Geographic Explorer in Residence, and photographer Paul Colangelo.

Robin Hammond ~ Second Place

Still Human – Mental Health in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Struggle for Dignity ~ In most African countries, there is little, or no, provision for mental health. Where facilities exist, they are often woefully inadequate. Mental health care conditions are often atrocious. Patients are caged in prisons, confined with shackles and deprived of dignity. This work aims to inspire change — a more humane and dignified treatment of mentally ill patients.

Matt Eich ~ Third Place

Sin & Salvation in Baptist Town ~ Separated and segregated, it’s a world away from the affluent neighborhoods on the other side of the tracks: with roughly 500 residents and 90 percent unemployment, poverty, crime, violence dominate– but so do beauty, poetry and music. This project examines the complicated legacies of racism and class disparities in a Mississippi Delta town. “There is no salvation in hanging out on the corner.”

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Anna Boyiazis AIDS Orphans in Sub-Saharan Africa; Stacy Kranitz The Island – Isle de Jean Charles, Louisiana; Ivo Viktorov Danchev Saker Falcon Conservation in Central Asia; Wendy Marijnissen Every Woman Counts; Alex Masi War Defects: The Fallujah Legacy; Thomas Edwin Stanworth An Uncommon Faith; Sebastian Liste Vicario Sugar Cane, Slave Work, and Andrew Harrington Living with Lions.