RED FLAG by the Latin American collective COVID LATAM wins the 2021 FotoEvidence Book Award with World Press Photo.
FotoEvidence’s mission is to draw attention to injustice, oppression and assaults on human dignity through the lens of photographers working in the humanistic tradition. FotoEvidence books focus on the most pressing social and environmental justice issues of our time—from genocide to global warming. They are published to inspire social change, to expose injustice, to create enduring evidence and call for accountability. Since 2017 FotoEvidence has partnered with World Press Photo for the annual FotoEvidence Book Award with World Press Photo.
RED FLAG
RED FLAG is the fruit of the 2021 FotoEvidence Book Award with World Press Photo.
In Latin America, coronavirus has laid bare extreme inequality in the region, and one symbol of that inequality is the red flag in Colombia. Impoverished Colombians hang a piece of red fabric outside their homes when they no longer have any food – it is a call for help and a reminder that many people live off what they earn from one day to the next with no safety net. While some families can quarantine safely, others risk hunger and eviction if they stop working even for a day. Those who hang the red flag outside their homes depend on the generosity of others for survival.
In the book, 19 photographers from 14 countries in the region have captured the impact of coronavirus, from intimate moments in quarantine with family to raging fires in the Brazilian Amazon. The photographers have witnessed floods, riots, and funerals and watched their parents, children, and siblings struggle with isolation, loneliness, and anxiety. The photos, like the red flag, tell a story of desperation and hope – one in which we recognize the role of community and the human desire for connection.
Jon Lee Anderson writes the introduction to the book. Alice Driver and Marcela Turati contribute with texts and interviews. Edited by Musuk Nolte and designed by Ramon Pez Studio the book is available at the FotoEvidence bookstore online.
THE WINNER
Covid Latam is a collective of photojournalist covering the progress of the Covid-19 pandemic in Latin America. Eighteen photographers, nine men and nine women, covering 14 Latin American countries: Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela, who are documenting the daily and intimate aspects of life during the pandemic, making visible the most vulnerable communities, their collateral crisis and the deepening of social inequality in the region.
Covid Latam Photographers: Rodrigo Abd, Johis Alarcón, Sara Aliaga, Eliana Aponte, Matilde Campodónico, Alejandro Cegarra, Federico Ríos Escobar, Ana Carolina Fernandes, Fabiola Ferrero, Andrea Hernández, Tamara Merino, Sebastian Gil Miranda, Pablo Piovano, Fred Ramos, Iván Valencia, Rafael Vilela, Daniele Volpe, Glorianna Ximendaz
Follow Covid Latam on Instagram @covidlatam
Follow FotoEvidence on Instagram @fotoevidencepressnyc
