Gritty but fascinating photos show a migrant card game, high jinx at a youth detention centre and the sad gaze of a naked woman the British Journal of Photography Awards
The annual photography competition has drawn in some breath-taking entries this year
BREATH-TAKING entries from the British Journal of Photography's International Photography Award 2017 draw light on the everyday lives of migrants.
Daniel Castro Garcia scooped the award for Foreigner: Migration into Europe 2015-2016, a series depicting the people caught up in the European refugee crisis.
He was inspired to take the emotive snaps in 2015, where he spent weeks getting to know his subjects and interviewing them.
The Award-winning photographer told the : “I think that’s the backbone of the work.
“Going up to people and speaking to them, discussing their situation before even mentioning photography.
“I really have a strong belief that it’s a collaboration.
“Without engaging with the individuals and conveying what you’re trying to do with them, it’s worthless.”
His poignant pictures soon became critically acclaimed, and they were nominated for the MACK First Book Award and the Paris Photo-Aperture Foundation First Book Award.
This spurred Castro Garcia onto releasing the images in his very own book.
With the help of graphic designer Thomas Saxby and producer Jade Morris, Castro Garcais self-published them under the title, Foreigner: Migration into Europe 2015-2016.
The International Photography Awards judges picked Castro Garcia as their winner because they believed his snaps served a both artistic and factual purpose.
Hannah Watson, director of the TJ Boulting Gallery, explained: “The Foreigner series stood out, not only for some really strong images that often cross both documentary and artistic concepts, but because the whole project has been put together with a lot of dedication and energy and reaches out beyond the realms of photography to a very timely issue that we felt should be highlighted.”
Speaking about his prestigious win, Castro Garcia said: “This has just given me confidence to carry on and I’m really grateful for that.
“I just want to keep moving with it now. I’ve got a thirst for it.”
One of the runners up of the awards was Zuza Krajewska, who took portraits of young offenders at a custody centre near Warsaw, Poland.
Her childlike subjects are in a state of purgatory, and must undertake rehabilitation before they are reintroduced into society.
Christopher Anderson’s Blue Blanc Rouge collection was another runner-up.
His work followed the concepts of home and identity, drawing on his personal experiences as an American who became interested in ‘being French’.
Castro Garcia’s gritty photographs will be displayed at London’s TJ Boulting Gallery from the 16th March – 1st April 2017.