Capture Corruption: 31+ age group winners

17 August 2015

Back to Capture Corruption photo competition home · 18-30 age group winners

We teamed up with the Thomson Reuters Foundation and the International Anti-Corruption Conference to launch “Capture Corruption”, a global photo competition looking for the most powerful images of corruption and its devastating impact on lives around the world.

We received more than 1,500 entries from around the world – images exposing injustice, exploitation and the activists who are fighting back.

Here are the winners from the 31 years and older category.

Giles Clarke

“The Re-Cyclers of Port-Au-Prince”. For years, the Haitian government has vowed to clean up the city and slums of Port-Au-Prince. This image, shot in the vast smoking wasteland dump just three miles outside Haiti's capital city, shows no sign of effective waste management or any regard for what materials – toxic or otherwise – are being dumped daily by the constant caravan of privately run garbage trucks. "We are told that there are no hazardous waste materials being dumped here but we all know that is not true" says one of the hooded "re-cyclers" who makes this dump his home now. In 2012 the government passed a law forbidding the import of polyethylene and polystyrene in a bid to counter the growing plastic mountains, but with zero-enforcement, the problem continues unabated. Despite the ban on plastics, Haiti is importing far more soft drinks in plastic bottles and foods in polythene wrappings than ever before. Giles Clarke/Getty Images Reportage (2015)

'Corruption has left an indelible stain on humanity all over the world; From the highest seats of government right the way down to small community leaders seeking more for themselves. As a Human Rights documentarian, I am in places and with people who suffer indefinitely under those who put their own needs before those they are empowered to serve. This is my motivation- to explore ways to expose these injustices and shed a light of awareness on just a few of these deplorable situations.'

Giles Clarke (1965, England) is a photojournalist based in New York City. His work has been featured recently by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, CNN, Yahoo News, The Guardian, The Nation, National Geographic, The New Yorker, and VICE among others. Giles is a featured photographer with Getty Images Reportage. Giles is a visiting lecturer and an Advisory Board member at the Cine Institute, Haiti's only tuition-free arts college.

Marcelo Londono

The lack of investment in health is one of the most significant problems in countries like Brazil. Corruption in public administration ensures money intended for this purpose is lost, meaning people like María live a tough life. She is one of many people suffering from leprosy, and she is a symbol of the struggle against it. Globally, Brazil has the second highest number of recorded cases of leprosy, only India has more. Public policy is needed to ensure prevention plans are in place to hinder more infections and ultimately lead to the eradication of the disease which continues to truncate the lives of thousands of people, including children and adolescents – showing the saddest face of political corruption in the country. (2015)

“Latin American countries hold the first place globally in terms of having the largest gap between the rich and poor, and corruption remains one of the major reasons why. To eradicate this “disease” would be the first step needed to combat these serious social tragedies that people face. ”

Marcelo Londono Documentary photojournalist who covers the problems and contradictions that arise from modern society, technology and the prevailing order. He is especially interested in issues of subsistence during conflicts, and through his work reflects, asks questions and explores different readings on such issues. He lives in Brazil and works mainly in Latin America.

Pushpendra Maheshwari

A tribal girl and her pet walk over their parched paddy field on the outskirts of Malwa, India. The drought, considered to be manmade, has given locals both hope and a sense of frustration. Protests advocating for drought aid have brought some attention to the dire situation in some villages, and have also prompted steps for altering water use from non-essential industries to necessary uses such as drinking water. However there is still a sense of helplessness as the government and state leaders fail to disentangle themselves from corrupt deals relating to water and land rights, giving preference to larger companies, and ultimately failing to recognise the struggle of farmers and local villagers living day-to-day under the drought conditions. On a global scale, as extreme weather patterns continue to cause instability, a more collective effort will be needed to effectively address both the causes and the consequences of climate change. (2015)

“We use up plants and trees but we do not consider plantations. This is corruption from us to everybody on earth and the final result is drought everywhere. In Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh deforestation is occurring very quickly”

Pushpendra Maheshwari is a professional photographer from Sailana in Ratlam district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. He has been taking photos since 2008, and in 2014 won a contest participation prize for the International Vaccine Institute photo competition under the theme “The Children of the World “.

Freedom II Andres

"Million People March" in Makati, Philippines, in response to the so-called "pork barrel scam". People came together with one goal, to express dismay over the government. Some even cried for the downfall of the president. Those responsible for the scandal need to step down from their position and own up to their misdeeds. They owe the people the truth. (2013)

“My exposure to the fight against corruption in government dates back to my childhood days. I remember 1986 my mother brought me and my older brother along to Luneta Park where the Filipino people celebrated the triumph of democracy. That started my awareness of how government should be. As I want to photograph facts as they happen around me, photos that capture the drama in real life as opposed to that which the government would like the world to see, inspire me to go, click the shutter and let my work speak for itself.

Freedom Ii Andres and his three siblings and are all named Freedom, perhaps in legacy to his father who in the 1970s was among the student activists who denounced the dictatorship of President Marcos. Born to a simple family, he grew up aspiring to succeed in life. He was attracted to photography in part because his family loves photos – old pictures in sepia and black and white are kept intact at home.

Marcia Foletto

This picture shows José, a 69-year-old Brazilian man with no income, who lives in a house with no bathroom. Millions of people in Brazil live in extreme poverty, unable to buy the minimum amount of food. In Rio de Janeiro, host state of 2016 Olympic Games, 5.5 per cent of the population lives with hunger and unemployment. Corruption in Brazil directly affects the well-being of citizens and decreases public investment in health, education and infrastructure, increasing social exclusion and economic inequality. (2015)

“In Brazil, we suffer from inequality not only of income, but also of education, opportunities and gender. Even though it is a country considerably rich in resources and with a high GDP, Brazil is extremely unfair considering the distribution of its resources among the population. And the most obvious cause of this is decades of corrupt governments and impunity. A photograph can do little to change this reality, but a picture can disturb, cause discomfort and indeed change a thought and help in the fight for a more just society.”

Márcia Foletto, 47, graduated in journalism and has been working as photojournalist since 1988. Born in Santa Maria, Southern Brazil, she began working in a small newspaper and fell in love with journalism. Since 1991, Márcia is a staff photographer of O Globo, onde of the largest newspaper in Brazil, based in Rio de Janeiro. Nowadays, her focus areas are social inequality and environmental degradation. She has won a number of national awards, such as Finep and CNT Photojournalism.

Somenath Mukhopadhyay

Right to pure drinking water is often denied to marginalised people all across the world. This photograph shows a villager crossing a water-logged area with a pan filled with drinking water. While heavy monsoon rains have flooded the village, he is forced to carry the water home from a long distance hand pump. (2006)

“The issue of corruption is visible in many forms in the society. Be it the access to water or access to public health or even as small as getting your mobile phone disconnected thrice in a single call and nobody to answer your complaint. Particularly this photograph depicts a wide range of issues relating to my personal experience. This photograph establishes that water justice is denied to poor people all across the world. Being a resident of a sleepy town of West Bengal in India I have witnessed flooding of villages nearby every year during monsoon and how that affects daily life, health and sanitation. ”

Somenath Mukhopadhyay is an amateur photographer, and a teacher by profession. He has been clicking on issues of environment, human rights, microfinance, culture and the lives of people for the last 15 years.

Dejan Petrovic

John is from Chin state, Myanmar and this is his second job. He says he is 19 but he does not look it. Under-age work is common in Myanmar. John dreams of going to work in Malaysia for 10 years - not longer - to save money to buy a small fishing boat and start a fishing business. Everything that happens in Myanmar is related to politics. After 52 years in power, the military regime still holds a strong hand over everything that happens in the country. Corruption is the top concern for businesses. This construction site pays a measly US$2.50 a day for 12 hours of hard labour. When I tried to discuss the issue with the foreman shrugged his shoulders and said "no money, all money stays up" pointing his index finger towards the sky. (2015)

“Abusing power for personal benefit has been present since the beginning of days. From third world countries to established democracies, corruption is omnipresent on different levels. Corruption has to be unveiled and strongly fought against, and photography is just one of the ways to achieve this.”

Dejan Petrovic has been involved in social work for the most part of his professional life. With over 18 years of international experience in the non-profit sector and strong relations with a high number of civil society organisations, he has been closely connected with anti-corruption work and determined to find ways to reduce its negative influence.

David Rengel

This photo was taken at a special needs school in Kigoma, Tanzania. This place is a refuge for albinos from Burundi and other dangerous regions in Tanzania. Despite being barely able to sustain the 90 people with special needs who live there, the school had to accommodate another 48 people. It is estimated that there are 173,000 people with albinism living in Tanzania. The mafia have a price for each part of their body - they kill them for “Muti”, a concoction used in black magic, made with albino body parts. Politicians and businessmen buy the Muti because they believe it gives them magical powers. Political corruption has allowed them to emerge unscathed in court. (2009)

“My duty is to give visibility to instances of corruption and to denounce the corrupt. They have the power to change the laws that ensure the welfare of the planet, and their interests are contrary to sustainable human development. Their acts have a devastating effect on the present and the future of the weakest and most disadvantaged, most of whom cannot defend themselves – and so I give a voice to them.”

Photographer and documentary filmmaker, David Rengel has been professionally involved in the film industry for over 15 years. He documents projects worldwide, both freelance or in collaboration with various NGOs. He is the co-founder of An Hua collective and NGO, which seeks to publicise forgotten conflicts and document social, historical and contemporary changes related to issues of human rights, anthropology, economics and environment.

David Rengel

This photo was taken in the Prey Lang forest in Cambodia. Kul, 58, is a farmer and community activist. She belongs to a group of women fighting to regain their sacred land – land she says the government evicted them from to sell to foreign companies. In this photo, she is on top of hundreds of kilos of wood that once formed the forest where she lived since her childhood. Once the wood from the forests has been sold, foreign companies use the land to grow sugarcane and rubber, which ultimately benefits politicians and the military. (2013)

“My duty is to give visibility to instances of corruption and to denounce the corrupt because they have the power to change the laws that ensure the welfare of the planet, and their interests are contrary to sustainable human development. Their acts have a devastating effect on the present and the future of the weakest and most disadvantaged, most of whom cannot defend themselves – and so I give a voice to them.”

Danny Victoriano

In the Philippines, these boys should be in school studying to prepare their future. Instead, poverty has forced them to work as garbage scavengers to augment the income of their families, as they struggle to survive. (2009)

“I belong to Pitik Mulat Advocacy Photography which has a motto ‘change the world one photo at the time’. PITIK MULAT is a venue for photographers to express their passion for social concerns – be it environment, human rights, child welfare, equal opportunity for PWDs, anything that afflicts society – the aim is to create compelling images that will raise social awareness and, hopefully, influence concrete action.”

Danny Victoriano is 49 years old and works as an information specialist. Photography has been his hobby since 2006 and he is an active member of Samahan ng mga Litratista sa Rizal (SLR Camera Club). He is also part of a small team of advocacy photographers called Pitik Mulat (Click for Awareness) Advocacy Photography. He has thrice been awarded Photographer of the Year by the Federation of Philippine Photographers Foundation from 2012 to 2014. In 2010 he received the Ani ng Dangal award, given by the National Commission of Culture and Arts.