The 65th Annual Pictures of the Year International ("POYi") competition which is currently being judged has announced Sarah Leen/National Geographic as the first prize winner in the Magazine Picture Editing Portfolio section, with Jonas Bendiksen's photo essay on Dharavi, a slum called Mumbai's shadow city.
In my view, this is a deserved recognition for the photographer and the magazine. There are two images that I think really stand out in the photo essay...the one above, and the 8th one in the series, which is of a man hunched under an umbrella while a woman in the alley is drenched in the pouring rain, and a priest and a child are arranging a small altar. A moment frozen in time...very well captured by Jonas.
(Note: I erroneously had this photo essay as being by Sarah Leen. However, sharp-eyed Kendrick Kwok, a fellow photographer and Lightstalkers member, kindly pointed out that it was Bendiksen's. A quick search of the National Geographic website confirmed that this was indeed the case. Thank you, Kendrick.)
(Note 2: Another sharp-eyed friend and photographer, Asim Rafiqui, corrected my error in that POYi awarded the Dharavi photo for picture editing, not for the pictures of the essay. The recipient of the award is Sarah Leen, and not Jonas Bendikson, as the category 'Magazine Picture Editing' is reserved for the editors who create the best photo layouts and best use of pictures to tell a story. Many thanks, Asim!)
The photo essay Dharavi, Mumbai's Shadow City
