This year we brought together some of photography's most prominent forms into one category–The Storyteller.
Photojournalism, street photography, and travel photography have the capacity to change the way we think and feel about our world. We wanted to see the playful pursuit of spontaneous, ironic, and untold narratives shaping culture and driving change. Whether it was events unravelling on our own doorsteps or untold stories from the globe’s most remote locations, we saw a broad spectrum from the extravagant and the everyday.
"Self-isolation".
As demonstrated by a review of the effects of perceived social isolation across the life span, loneliness can wreak havoc on an individual’s physical, mental and cognitive health. Problems can arise, however, when an experience of loneliness becomes chronic, according to Ami Rokach, PhD, an instructor at York University in Canada. "If reactive loneliness is painful, chronic loneliness is torturous," he says. Chronic loneliness is most likely to set in when individuals either don’t have the emotional, mental or financial resources to get out and satisfy their social needs or they lack a social circle that can provide these benefits, says psychologist Louise Hawkley, PhD, a senior research scientist at the research organization NORC at the University of Chicago. Hawkley points to evidence linking perceived social isolation with adverse health consequences including depression, poor sleep quality, impaired executive function, accelerated cognitive decline, poor cardiovascular function and impaired immunity at every stage of life."
Pedro, works in the mines in Potosí - one of the highest situated cities in the world. He showed us the inside of the mines at Cerro Rico. The city and its people are highly dependent on the riches of the mountain. It used to be rich in silver - but not anymore. The working conditions are horrible but the people there often have no other choice. Chewing coca leaves gives them energy and kills their hunger. Drinking high percentage alcohol and smoking cigarettes in front of their altar with the god of the mine is supposed to bring luck. Explosions of dynamite could happen anywhere and sometimes even without warning. A lot of people, including very young ones, lost their lives inside these mines. Pedro and his company are working hard though to improve the situation!
Lele Maria lives high up in the mountains in a small village where the road is almost inaccessible by car. She is a widow taking care of her own little farm and loves needlework. She was showing me the beautiful textile of St. Mary that she was working on. Every traditional artwork on the wall is her own creation.
