The Inaugural Winner of the Tom Stoddart Award for Excellence 2022 is Rasha Al Jundi

Tom was continually impressed by the quality of the photojournalists for this scholarship and would have been delighted with so many entries from all around the globe for the 2022 Ian Parry Scholarship. Judging was never easy, and we are grateful to the board and judges for picking such a wonderful photojournalist for this award that means so much as it honours Tom’s memory. Tom was a founder and life-long trustee of the Ian Parry Scholarship; mentoring young photojournalists throughout his career.   

In 2022 Ailsa Stoddart joined  the Ian Parry family,  carrying  on the  amazing Stoddart supportive work as Trustee for the Scholarship.

Each winner will receive $3,500 towards their chosen project, with Canon continuing to support equipment loans. The winners now have access to a year-long mentorship programme and get the opportunity to take part in the Transmissions Programme at Visa Pour L’Image in Perpignan 2023.

“The scholarship exists to find and support the very best young people striving to produce powerful, meaningful photojournalism in a selfie-obsessed world. Ian would be immensely proud of the long list of internationally known photographers who were  helped at the start of their careers by the scholarship that bears his name.” Tom Stoddart.

“We were delighted with the response to this year’s Scholarship; the diversity of entries, quality of work and the subjects tackled illustrate how concerned this generation of young and new photographers are about contemporary matters such as the climate crisis, identity politics and social issues affecting their nations and communities.” Ian Parry Scholarship.

Congratulations to Rasha Al Jundi - @rashaa_jv

Winner of the inaugural Tom Stoddart Award for Excellence

Rasha Al Jundi (b. 1984) is a Palestinian visual storyteller and documentary photographer. Born in Amman, Jordan, she grew up in the UAE, after which she pursued Masters degree in Community Nutrition from the American University of Beirut, Lebanon.  Rasha is a 2022 graduate of the Documentary Photography and Visual Photojournalism program at the International Center for Photography in New York.

Red Soil

Every time a cow crossed into colonial settlers’ lands, the community would be punished by taking more of their lands and animals”, John Kisio, 82 years. Following one of many historical injustices that affected Kenya during the colonial British rule, “Red Soil” is a documentary photography project that utilizes black and white digital images, to showcase the contemporary effects of that period of history on the Maasai people. Uprooted into different reserves, this indigenous population lost its freedom of movement to pursue its semi-nomadic lifestyle. The project focuses on Maasai communities north of the Great Rift Valley, where people are fenced off from accessing grabbed ancestral lands. Large-scale ranches and farms, wildlife conservancies and government settlement schemes surround those communities. Population pressure, drought and bad governance compound the everyday life of a tribe that strives to maintain its traditional ways. Resulting poverty and insecurity are pushing some community members into less lucrative alternative livelihoods. A tribe once known for its adaptability and vast influence across borders, is now fragmented. Across the border, the Maasai of Tanzania are about to face a similar face for the second time. They were pushed in the 1950s to create Serengeti national park. Now, around 80,000 people are facing loosing their ancestral lands for luxury tourism and trophy hunting by external investors.