Picture credit: Jan Grarup
Photographer Jan Grarup has won the Leica Oskar Barnack Award 2011 for images documenting the aftermath of last year?s devastating earthquake in Haiti.
The Danish photographer had travelled to Haiti on assignment for various magazines after the quake struck the country in January 2010, killing more than 300,000 people and affecting millions of others.
Grarup beat more than 2,000 other photographers to scoop the top prize of a Leica M9 camera, plus ?5,000.
Commenting on his portfolio – called ?Haiti Aftermath? – Leica said in a statement: ?He sees his mission as a photographer as much more than the simple depiction of the current situation.
?The aim of his black & white shots is to generate emotion. The earthquake took everything the Haitians had: their belongings, the roof over their heads, their friends and relatives.
?Their lives lie in ruins. Fear and despair is written on their faces??
Grarup?s pictures show how police and private security forces attempt to protect the remaining stocks of provisions by defending them with weapons.
The Leica Oskar Barnack Newcomer Award 2011 went to Jing Huang from China.
The competition is named after Leica camera inventor Oskar Barnack (1879-1936).
Picture credits: Jan Grarup
