EURORDIS PHOTO AWARD 2021

The EURORDIS Photo Award is an opportunity to visually express what it means to live with a rare disease and to share your story with the rare disease community and beyond.

The contest is open to all nationalities, ages and diseases. Hundreds of people from more than 30 different countries around the world submitted a photo for this year's contest, each reflecting the drive of people living with a rare disease.

From all who entered, five finalists were selected by the award-winning photographer Marcus Bleasdale, before being put to a public vote. The winners were announced on the night of the EURORDIS Black Pearl Awards, on 24th February 2021. The three finalists with the most votes each received a Prize.

 

2021 WINNERS

 

1) Together Forever 

Disease: Proximal Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 2
Country: Slovakia
Photographer: Pavol Kulkovský

Caption: Our Wedding

2) OI Can

Disease: Osteogenesis Imperfecta
Country: Nepal
Photographer: Khim Bahadur Lamichhane

Caption: In this photo, Khim’s wife takes their son, Animesh, to school in a stroller. Animesh has Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI) Type 2, and had just sustained a fracture in his femur.

3) Living With A Rare Disease

Disease: Alternating Hemiplegia of Childhood
Country: Iceland
Photographer: Díana Júlíusdóttir

Caption: Documentary photographer Díana Júlíusdóttir captures moments in the life of a family living with a rare disease, Alternating Hemiplegia of Childhood (AHC). Diana captured these images during the years 2017-2019. Sunna Valdís Sigurðardóttir is the only person diagnosed with AHC in Iceland, but the odds of having a mutation in the gene (ATP1A3) which causes the disorder are one in a million. The photos capture the suffering and anxiety of Sunna’s caretakers. The disease is episodic and the episodes can strike without warning like a lightning bolt. They can be extremely painful, as all the muscles of the body cramp at the same time.

 

Photo gallery 2021

 

 

Marcus Bleasdale

Marcus Bleasdale is a talented documentary photographer and photojournalist who has been dedicated to advocacy and human rights for over fifteen years. His work on human rights and conflict during his role as a photographer for National Geographic Magazine has helped to educate and advise corporations and policy makers around the world. Marcus has also partnered with various international advocacy groups, including the Human Rights Watch.

In 2002, his first book “One Hundred Years of Darkness” was published, soon followed by “The Rape of a Nation” (2009) and “The Unravelling” (2015). Appearing in the New Yorker, The New York Times, The Sunday Times Magazine and TIME Magazine to name a few, he has been the recipient of numerous prestigious awards including the UNICEF Photographer of the Year Award (2004), the Anthropographia Award for Photography and Human Rights (2010) and the Amnesty International Award (2015).

 

 

entries from previous years

 

Check out more inspiring photos from the last few years:

See entries from the 2020 EURORDIS Photo Award

See entries from the 2019 EURORDIS Photo Award

See entries from the 2018 EURORDIS Photo Award