We are proud to announce the winners of our Photo Book Asia Award in the inaugural Invisible Photographer Asia Awards 2013.

HAJIME KIMURA : KODAMA wins IPA Photo Book Asia Award 2013 (Published).  WILFRED LIM : 胡 | WHO wins IPA Photo Book Asia Award 2013 (Unique Edition).

Congratulations to all our inaugural winners and finalists!

IPA Photo Book Asia Award 2013 (Published) Winner:

HAJIME KIMURA

KODAMA

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12^th March, 2008, cloudy

The river in the bottom of ravines was half frozen. It was a mother bear to be shot. Dark-red blood was steeping into the brand new snow.

As the sun was getting to sink, my fingers have become painful even under the gloves. Some men upended the bear’s body and I could see appearing a white-vivid pattern like a boomerang on her chest. The body seemed deeply black. I felt the word “jet” was only for this bear. The deep-darkness was beating slightly. It looked like looking for her child. Eyes were shining emerald green.

The first time I learn the word of Matagi can be gone back to I was the age of 21. At that time, the vague word “MATAGI” made me stop imagining easily rather than inspire something for me. Beyond the world of literature was far away from me.

White boomerang was immediately colored red when a dagger was stabbed into her chest.

She died in the beginning of new spring, and some big-black men were around her. I wondered how a child would be to live… Her fresh blood was roundly flowing out from an artery. Steam was rising from the deep fat under the fur in the crisp air of minus 5℃.

In the end her beat was becoming stopped quietly.

From my note.

This photographic story is the first subject matter that Hajime would challenge himself to portray. The trigger to his passion dates back to a decade ago, when he was just 21 years old. Sitting in the college library he stumbled upon a book that portrayed the life of an ancient Japanese people living in mountainous ranges, only 30 years ago. The tribe was described as being quite apart from the Japanese society as we know it today. The book left a deep impression that marked him for life… This 56-page memory is richly overflowing with the recollections of Hajime’s 5 years spent living, between 2007 and 2011, with that very tribe, the MATAGI.

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Photographer: Hajime Kimura
Website: hajimekimura.net
Publisher: Mado-sha
ISBN: 4896251156

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IPA Photo Book Asia Award 2013 (Unique Edition) Winner:

WILFRED LIM

胡 | WHO

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This is a project about my family history.

In 1936, my great grandmother migrated from China to Malaysia with her son, leaving her husband and daughter behind. That son she left with was my grandfather and he was 2 years old when he left his hometown. In Malaysia, my great grandmother remarried a man by the surname of Lim. Initially, my grandfather’s surname was Hu. After the marriage, he adopted his stepfather’s surname, Lim. Therefore, my surname is now Lim. I am supposed to be a descendant of Hu, but I grew up as a descendant of Lim.

My grandfather reconnected with his sister and cousin after being separated for 60 years. He has been visiting China often since then. In December 2012, I travelled to Hokkien, China with my grandfather and documented the first part of this project. The second part of the series was done in Malaysia & Singapore. By juxtaposing the scenes between Malaysia/Singapore and China, I hope to engage the viewers to study the similarities and differences between the countries.

The title of this project (Who) resembles the pronunciation of 胡(Hu). It also echoes my anxiety for being unable to distinguish my own roots.

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Photographer: Wilfred Lim
Website: www.wilfredweegee.com
Publisher: Self-published

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A biig thanks to our panel of judges Zhuang Wubin, Chow Chee Yong and Peter Schoppert. Some words from our Judges….

“Looking at the submissions, I am encouraged by the diversity of approaches and the attention to craft that the photographers have displayed, vis-a-vis the making of their photo books. In this sense, unlike some Euramerican commentators, I do not think that we are looking at the death of photo books. At least that’s not the case in Southeast Asia, where more and more artists/photographers are exploring various ways of publishing their works, at the same time, tapping into the social media to get the word out.

In the finalists of this category, we have photographers who see the photo book as a device to spotlight an urgent issue in the world. We also have practitioners who see it more as a collectible object. Both winners, however, show that they understand how to use the photo book as a material and structure to bring out the nuances of their projects. In my mind, they are deserving winners.”
Zhuang Wubin, IPA Photo Book Asia Award 2013 Judge.

“This very first IPA Photo Book Award competition is especially exciting. The book submissions are of quality in terms of imagery, text and contextual meaning in the topics that each photographer/artist explored. The diversity of genre and subjects that were submitted was also very interesting, ranging from fine art, documentary to journalism. All the artists have shown finesse in crafting their books. I applaud all of them for their efforts and approach.”
Chow Chee Yong, IPA Photo Book Asia Award 2013 Judge.

 

Congratulations once again to all our Finalists!

1) SUDHARAK OLWE : IN SEARCH OF DIGNITY AND JUSTICE – The Untold Story of Conservancy Workers

3) GREG CONSTANTINE : EXILED TO NOWHERE: BURMA’S ROHINGYA

5) NOZOMI IIJIMA : SCOFFING PIG

6) ALEX MASI : BHOPAL SECOND DISASTER

7) HIROYUKI ITO : RED RAIN

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All winning and finalist Photo Books in the Invisible Photographer Asia Awards will be exhibited at the upcoming IPA Photo Books Show 2013, 19th–20th October at the National Museum of Singapore. Produced by Invisible Photographer Asia, the IPA PHOTO BOOKS SHOW 2013 is Singapore’s first Book Exhibition and Fair event dedicated to Photography.

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