Documenting the Aftermath

Asim Rafiqui and The Idea of India

The Aftermath Project has released the portfolios of their 2009 winners. Asim Rafiqui wins $25,000 in support of his study of pluralism in India. This choice is a welcome surprise and supports a trend away from the disaster adventurism of other photojournalistic awards. Aftermath promotes the documentation of what happens in societies after war or other kinds of upheaval. In India’s situation, the centuries old conflict between multiple religious and ethnic groups has resulted in a pluralism of necessity. Asim Rafiqui’s delightfully scrambled compositions of contemporary India prove that there is life after, and in between, riots and other animosities.

Here are some of the other Aftermath winners:

David Monteleone, Russian Caucasus

Saiful Huq Omi, Bangladesh