The organizers invited university students, graduate students, and vocational school students from all over the world to share their take on the SDGs.
More than 1,000 entries from 73 countries were sent to the organizers, which significantly exceeded entries from the inaugural contest held last year.
Iranian photographer, Kiarash Eghbali-Seresht, 23-years old student of economics at University of Tehran has won the competition.
As a photographer, he says he always knew that the photo can tell more than 1000 words and each good photo has a message. And the background stories of the people, who are featured in the winning photos are even more amazing than these professionally taken photos.
Kiarash smiled and proudly said, “Being currently an intern at UNIC Tehran has helped me not only to understand what UN does in Iran, and feel a part of it, but feel empowered that I can make positive change, even with my camera.”
He shared also the background story of the photo of the old lady living on a street and said “Affording medical expenses has been a great concern across the globe, not only in Iran. Elderly, are much more vulnerable to different diseases and not always can afford to pay their medical bills. Old lady with broken legs has been living outside Shariati Hospital in Tehran for two months, collecting money for hospitalization to have an operation on her legs.”
“The pain and anxiety in her eyes were such powerful message and influenced not just me, but also my friends, and we helped her to collect money and she has undergone operation. It shows that sometimes just a photo can make a real difference,” he proudly added.
More of Kiarash Eghbali-Seresht’s photos can be viewed on his Instagram and website.
This year, the Photo Contest Organizers from UNIC Tokyo established three special awards, namely the TOGETHER Award, Award of Recognition and Concept Award. Kiarash Eghbali-Seresht won the Award of Recognition.
The award ceremony will take place in Tokyo on the United Nations Day on Tuesday, 24 October, which also coincides with Sophia University’s UN Weeks.
SANA/MNA