alem by David Brunetti
This is yet another of my unsuccessful entries for the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize this year. And even though one of my prints was selected for the exhibition I am still pondering the subjectivity of the entire process. Having to face the overwhelming number of entries, judging the Taylor Wessing must be a daunting effort. A final selection of 60 prints (out of 5,340 submissions) is an extremely tight edit and the Portrait Salon shows that you can easily curate an equally exciting alternative show with the entries the Taylor Wessing rejected.
The portrait of Alem is also from my Ethiopian series. He is a street kid and he is one of the majority of vulnerable minors who do not have the good fortune to benefit from charitable projects aiming to get children like him off the streets, provide vocational training or reunite them with family to keep them safe. The project was commissioned by EveryChild who do fantastic work cooperating with local charities but opportunities like those EveryChild is offering are few and far between, and most children like Alem, Daniel and Brehane will continue to live on the streets where they are exposed to crime, violence and abuse.