Joana Choumali wins Global Award in Photography and Sustainability

The photographs for her Prix Pictet winning series were taken three weeks after the terrorist attacks in Grand Bassam on Sunday 13th March, 2016. Choumali said ‘This work is a way to address the way Ivorian people deal with trauma and mental health. Each stitch was a way to recover, to lay down the emotions, the loneliness, and mixed feelings I felt. Adding embroidery on these street photographs was an act of channelling hope and resilience.’

An independent jury, chaired by Sir David King, selected Joana Choumali for the CHF100,000 (£78,000) prize from a shortlist of twelve. An exhibition of work from the shortlisted portfolios is on view at the Victoria and Albert Museum until 8th December.

Joana Choumali, born in 1974, is visual artist based in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. She studied graphic arts in Casablanca (Morocco) and worked as an art director in an advertising agency before embarking on her photography career. She works mainly on conceptual photography and mixed media.