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Safal Group, Africa’s largest steel building solutions provider and manufacturer has announced winners of the Safal Eye in the Wild Photography Competition 2021.
Kenya’s Anthony Ochieng Onyango was crowned overall winner of the SEITW Photography Competition 2021. He received the coveted Gold Award and will take home a cash prize of USD 3,000.
Sushil Chauhan also from Kenya came in second and received the Silver Award that comes with USD 2,000. The third winner was Osse Sinnare from Tanzania who received Bronze Award and USD 1,000.
The Public/People’s choice award was won by Johnson Makau (Kenyan) and Staff winner was Suud Abry (an MRM Staff from Mariakani, Kenya).
In September, Safal Group launched the 2021 competition under the theme, ‘African Landscapes through the Lens’ the aim was to celebrate Africa’s diversity and beauty. and to trigger conversations on sustainable conservation A total of 1,091 entries were submitted from nine African countries, Italy US and UK.
Speaking during the Awards ceremony, Safal Group CEO, Anders Lindgren said the winners were all well deserved. He also congratulated the shortlisted participants as well as all who submitted their work. He further confirmed that the quality of this year’s entries was very high making the work of the professional judges extremely daunting.
“This was a unique and highly contested competition that attracted participants from across Africa who took the opportunity to use photography to highlight the strategic significance the Environment plays in our lives” Anders said. He further reiterated that the environment is a resource that we have been given with abundance but one which we are called upon to protect judiciously. He further lauded the role photography plays in creating awareness of nature’s beauty. Loading…
Kenya submitted the highest number of entries (804) followed by Tanzania (84), Ethiopia (67) and Uganda 53. Mauritius had the least entries (3) also similar to those in Italy (3), India (3) and UK (3) while the US has (4) entries.
Safal Eye in the Wild was started in 2017. The intention was to use Photography as a medium to amplify the Safal Way and drive conversation around care for our environment. At that time the Competition was known as MRM Eye in the Wild, it was Kenya Centric and MRM driven. During that year the focus was on Wildlife Conservation with the hash tag By the time it clicks, it might be too late! The theme attracted 853 entries.
In 2018, the Competition was rebranded to Safal Eye in the Wild (SEIW) with the intention of drawing the interest and participation of other Safal Operations in East Africa and increasing the number of entries. The competition focused on Trees with the hash tag #StopTheChop! The theme attracted 538 entries.
In 2019, the Competition focused on Water Conservation with the hashtag #EveryDropCounts! This time the competition was across the East African region and we got 340 entries.
This year, 2021, the Competition focused on African Landscapes through the Lens, the goal was to celebrate Africa’s diversity and beauty.
The Competition was launched on September 9, 2021 and closed in November 2021. It was open to both professionals and amateurs residing in Africa including all Safal Group Operations across Africa. This resulted in the highest entries at 1,091, since its inception (2017).
Presiding over the event, Regional CEO of Jubilee Holdings Limited Dr. Julius Kipnge’tich, said future generations will not forgive us for destroying the only habitable planet, he further encouraged participants to use their cameras to take photos and preserve for future generations to see how the earth looked centuries ago. These would confirm to them that we worked hard to conserve the environment He further commended community-based conservation initiatives which not only preserve the environment and natural forests but also provide communities with income generating activities
Participants were quite eager to see what will be selected for next year’s Safal Eye in the Wild Competition, what is certain is that it will be another formidable theme that will further promote Care for Our Environment. The event closed on a promise to make next year’s competition bigger.