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Photo Competition – „Decolonial Perspectives“
Introduction
Development cooperation between the Global South and the Global North is still characterized by post-colonial structures and racism. It is important to deal openly with these colonial continuities: critical questions need to be asked, self-reflection encouraged and changes tackled. As the umbrella organization of development services in Germany, we at the AGdD see it as our responsibility to make a contribution to decolonization. The photo competition is a first step towards tackling this in a productive way – in close cooperation with experts, returnees and colleagues in partner organizations. We are convinced that this will create something new and look forward to receiving numerous submissions.
Participants are cordially invited to explore the following questions photographically:
- How does genuine partnership-based cooperation succeed in the Development Service/Civil Peace Service?
- What images emerge when I look at our projects and our cooperation from a power-critical perspective?
- What do decolonial alternatives look like in my work context?
Who can take part?
This is a closed competition. Participation is open to
- current and former development workers
- accompanying partners
- employees of partner organizations in the Development Service / CPS.
Which photos are we looking for?
We are looking for photographs that are surprising, inspire reflection and show change.
Possible guiding questions for the photographer's perspective are
Who is speaking? Who is acting? Who is at the center? Who contributes what expertise and how is something new created in dynamic interaction? Are privileges and power shared? How do I perceive the project environment, what different perspectives are there?
What criteria are used to evaluate the photos?
The photos should be authentic and powerful, show your own perspective and touch the viewer.
No professional photography skills or a professional camera are required; a smartphone camera, for example, is sufficient. Passion, inspiration and innovation are decisive criteria for the jury.
Requirements for submitted photos
- Up to a maximum of 5 individual images (also as a series) from the Development Service and Civil Peace Service can be submitted, ranging from documentary photography to artistic design. Creativity is very welcome.
- The images should not be older than five years (2020-2025).
- Image enhancement is permitted in the areas of brightness, contrast and color. AI-supported image manipulation, on the other hand, is not permitted, as it is about the authentic representation of reality. An approach that is increasingly under pressure in the age of fake news and disinformation on the internet.
- For each photo, a form must be completed with information about the photographer, information about the image and consent to the processing of personal data.
- If you submit several photos, please number the photos 1 - 5 at the end of the file name (see info in the form).
- Photos can be submitted in the common formats JPEG, PNG, HEICC.
- The photos should be taken at the highest possible resolution that the camera allows, as the award-winning photos will also be printed.
Form information photographer and picture
Copyright and rights of use
The participants agree that their submitted photos may be used by the AGdD and individual member organizations to promote the development service. Details in the form.
Data protection
As an organization based in Germany, the AGdD is bound by the General Data Protection Regulation
of the European Union on the processing of personal data (GDPR). Details can be found in our privacy policy on our website.
Participants in the photo competition must consent to the processing of their data (see form).
The processing of personal photos for the competition is also the processing of personal data of the person photographed. Therefore, persons depicted in the photos must have given their written consent for the photo to be taken. A corresponding declaration of consent (link) must be obtained and submitted for this purpose.
The AGdD reserves the right to exclude images from the competition at its own discretion if they do not meet the above requirements.
Closing date and jury
Please send your photos by June 15, 2025 with the subject “Photo competition” to redaktion(at)agdd(punkt)de.
The honorary three-member jury, consisting among others of Wolfgang Zurborn (photographer from Cologne) and Wara Vargas (photographer from La Paz, Bolivia) will select three winning images.
The results are expected by the end of August 2025.
What can be won?
The first three winners will each receive an attractive prize. The jury will also award a special prize for the best photo series.
At the end of the competition, the AGdD will look for and create opportunities to present the submitted photos to a wider public. This gives the participants the chance to present their picture and their story to a wider audience. Taken as a whole, this also means that their participation contributes to highlighting a decolonial perspective on development service and CPS.
Webinar – “Breaking with colonial continuities: the production and interpretation of photos”
As part of the photo competition, the AGdD is offering the webinar entitled, “Breaking with colonial continuities: the production and interpretation of images (photos). Participants in the competition are cordially invited to attend the following events to receive input on how to select photos that are critical of power and racism in the world of international cooperation.
25.03.2025, 5 p.m.-7:30 p.m. via ZOOM (German)
10.04.2025, 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m. CET and 6 p.m.-8:30 p.m. CET (English)
Participation in the webinar is free of charge.
Participation in the webinar is not mandatory in order to take part in the competition.
Contact person for webinars: Jasper Hoffmann (seminare(at)agdd(punkt)de)
Take part. We look forward to your pictures!
Silke Wesemann (redaktion(at)agdd(punkt)de)
Contact person for the photo competition
Jury
Wara Vargas
Wara Vargas Lara is a Bolivian documentary photographer. Her work is aimed at strengthening the cultural identity of indigenous peoples in her country, as well as highlighting the ancient knowledge of Bolivian women.
Since 2006, Wara Vargas' work has been recognized and exhibited in countries such as Germany, the United States, Colombia, Brazil, Uruguay, Mexico, Italy, and Spain.
In 2019, Wara received the National Geographic scholarship, with support to tell story of traditional midwives from the Kallawaya, culture of Bolivia, and since then she has been part of the community of Latin explorers.
She is part of the community of photographers at Fairpicture, an organization that is committed to ethical storytelling.
Wolfgang Zurborn
Wolfgang Zurborn’s photographs take us into a totally idiosyncratic and bizarre world in which scenes and objects of everyday life seem to have gone awry. His curiosity about experience and search for communication drive him to find images with radical cropping, surprising compositions and unusual perspectives that tear us away from the routine consumption of the neat and tidy media world. (from the publication Catch, published by Kettler, 2015)
Zurborn studied at the Bavarian State School of Photography in Munich and at the Dortmund University of Applied Sciences and Arts. He received the Otto Steinert Prize from the DGPh (German Society for Photography) in 1985 and the German Photo Book Prize in 2008. In 2009, the House of Photography at the Deichtorhallen Hamburg presented an overview of his work, which has also been shown in solo exhibitions around the world.
He has run the Lichtblick Gallery in Cologne together withTina Schelhorn for the past 39 years, and in 2010 he founded the Lichtblick School. Zurborn runs workshops and photography seminars all over the world and has been on the board of the German Photographic Academy since 1998.
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