Photographer wins awards

Capital’s staff photographer Mulugeta Ayene has won an award of excellence in photography.
Mulugeta has beaten 15 entries of eight photographers to win the award, with the jury describing his photos as “powerful and daring.”
The awards, presented by the Foreign Correspondents’ Association of Ethiopia, recognize outstanding work by Ethiopian journalists across 3 categories.
The 25-year-old photographer was presented with the certificate award plus a Nikon digital camera at a ceremony in the Alliance Ethio-française, Addis Ababa on Thursday evening.

Mulugeta’s black and white picture titled ‘The fence between the president and me’, capturing President Girma Wolde Giorgis at the National Stadium, was received with great enthusiasm by the jury.

Other winning entries of his feature sex workers in Metahara town and portrait of an old lady thanking her God after winning a lottery.The photos displayed the harsh realities of life and the photographer’s ability to capture the moment and tell the entire story was commended.
Another of the photo shows commemoration of the finding of the True Cross at Meskel Square.

Other awards presented at the ceremony included writing category winners covering current affairs in English and Amharic. Andulaem Sisay won first prize in the English text category for an article published in the online magazine Business Ethiopia entitled “Ethiopia’s crippled agriculture.” He was awarded a Toshiba laptop computer. Frew Abebe of Sendk won first prize for Amharic article, analyzing government regulation of the private sector. According to the jury, Frew wrote a balanced and critical story with many different viewpoints included. He was also given a Toshiba laptop.
In its third year, 20 text entries and 15 photo entries entered the Foreign Correspondents’ Association of Ethiopia Excellence in Journalism awards. The Association currently has 35 members representing nearly all major international news outlets with a presence in Ethiopia.
( Winning images published in Addis Journal for the first time, courtesy of Mulugeta Ayene)