Eighteen photography and journalism professionals from six countries were awarded the Diploma in Photojournalism (DPJ) in May, after presenting their final projects to a jury of top journalists.
Among this year’s graduates are ten Filipinos, two Bangladeshi, two Indians, a German, a Nepali, an Indonesian, and a Sri Lankan.
The final projects were photo essays on local and global issues. Among these works were done by A. M. Ahad, Khaled Hasan, and Soham Gupta. Ahad’s photo essay entitled Wall of Death was about the unrest brought about by the killings of Bangladeshis who dared to cross the India-Bangladesh border while Hasan’s Leave Me Alone revealed about a number of women who were victimized physically and mentally through acid attacks. Gupta’s Blue Flower was about the quest for sense of belonging of transgender women in society.
The DPJ is a one-year program aimed at raising the standards of photojournalism and news photography in Asia. It is composed of seven courses offer using the blended learning, on-campus and online, approach. This year’s graduates bring to 78 the number of DPJ graduates since its launch in 2006.
The graduates presented their final projects before their lecturers and multi-awarded film and photography practitioners. The members of the jury were Ditsi Carolino, Howie Severino, and Carsten Stormer.
Manila-based film maker Ditsi Carolino is a graduate of sociology from the University of the Philippines and documentary direction from the National Film and Television School, United Kingdom. She is currently working on three feature-length documentary films: about farmers’ plight in owning the land they till, the 2010 presidential elections, and the local elections in a small town in Bicol.
On the other hand, veteran journalist Howie Severino currently serves as the editor-in-chief of GMA News Online. Among the award-winning programs that he has produced is I-Witness, one of the longest-running documentary programs in the Philippines. Severino was also named as the sixth most trusted Filipino in a survey conducted by Reader’s Digest in 2010.
Carsten Stormer is a Manila-based German Asian correspondent, writer and photographer who has been reporting about war, conflict and other social issues in Asia and Africa since 2004. He took up his journalism studies in Germany and in India. Stormer’s works are being published by international magazines such as Stern, Focus, Rogue, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Frankfurter Rundschau, Cicero, Playboy, Marie Claire, Amnesty International, Reader’s Digest Asia.
This year’s graduates are: Ananias Abriza, Jr. (Kaizen Taekwondo, Philippines), A. M. Ahad (Freelance photojournalist, Bangladesh), Nabin Baral (International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, Nepal), Mark Fredesjed Cristino (Freelance photographer, Philippines), Bijoyeta Das (Women’s eNews, India), Rodel Deverala (Freelance photographer, Philippines), Manuel Domes (Forum Civil Peace Service, Germany), Richard Jacob Dy (Freelance photographer, Philippines), Soham Gupta (Freelance photographer, India), Khaled Hasan (Freelance photojournalist, Bangladesh), Rizza Mendiola (GMA Network Inc., Philippines), Riahardy Mendrofa (Warisan Indonesia Magazine, Indonesia), Randy Nobleza (Marinduque State College, Philippines), Felipe Jose Peralta (Bicol University, Philippines), Daminda Perera (Wijeya Newspapers Ltd., Sri Lanka), Estrella Sabado (Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines),Marciano Salahog (Freelance photographer, Philippines), and Jake Salvador (Freelance photojournalist, Philippines).
