Food For Thought: 7 Photos That Spotlight Sustenance, & Its Lack

Images of food, eaten and denied, for the mainstay of the finalists' repertoire in the 'World Food Programme | Food For Life' category of the recently announced Pink Lady® Food Photographer of the Year 2023 awards. As reported previously by Slurrp, the overall winner this year is Jon Enoch, a UK-based photgrapher who submitted a portrait of a candy floss seller from Mumbai for the competition.

'Hungry Tears', a photograph by Bangladesh's Al-Nasim Talukdar Rajib was the winner in this category. It depicts a young child crying over spilt food in the foreground of a packed train.

'Sorting Fish' by Sarah Wouters

Early morning at the Chittagong fish market. The fishermen take the fish they catch and sort them down by the harbour to sell them to wholesale businesses or individual customers.

Photo © Sarah Wouters and Pink Lady® Food Photographer of the Year 2023

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'Fasting for Peace' by Subrata Dey

This photo was taken at Lokenath Ashram in the Barodi area of Narayanganj, Bangladesh. Sanatan devotees are praying for peace with fasting. Devotees do not take any food during the prayer, from morning until the prayer ends in the evening. The group of pigeons in the picture look like they are joining in the worship with the devotees.

Photo © Subrata Dey and Pink Lady® Food Photographer of the Year 2023

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'Hungry Tears' by Al-Nasim Talukdar Rajib (Bangladesh)

Sustenance is unfortunately not available to everyone. Humiliation, which is sadly not unknown to the starving children living off the hostile environment of the streets, is more often than not something they have to become used to. Ironically, this environment has been created by the very victims of humiliation who never miss the chance to take away the children's means of extinguishing the flame of starvation, be it by force or accident... resulting in the flow of tears from the innocent's eyes.

Photo © Al-Nasim Talukdar Rajib and Pink Lady® Food Photographer of the Year 2023

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'Woman Carries Drinking Water Back to Her Home' by Azim Khan Ronnie

A woman stands out amongst an inanimate crowd as she uses a brick field as a shortcut after collecting fresh drinking water from a nearby well in Keraniganj, Dhaka, Bangladesh. This woman walks one kilometre each way to collect clean water several times every day. The tube well is located beside the brick field, so often people use this as a shortcut.

Photo © Azim Khan Ronnie and Pink Lady® Food Photographer of the Year 2023

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'A Garbage Worker Feeding his Children on a Garbage Mountain', by Sultan Ahmed Niloy

Bangladesh has a huge population and massive quantities of waste are produced every day. Here, children are eating lunch with their mother on a garbage field. Anadabazar is the largest dumping ground in Chittagong and hundreds of under-aged children from poor families work there, collecting and recycling waste. Their parents receive roughly $20 a month for 8-10 hours of work a day. Despite getting nothing from life, they are helping their families to the best of their ability.

Photo © Sultan Ahmed Niloy and Pink Lady® Food Photographer of the Year 2023

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'The Equilibrium of Water' by Aurore Rivoalan

I was around 14 and travelling deep-bush in Madagascar. In the early morning along the Tsiribihina river in the urban commune of Belon'i Tsiribihina, I saw the laughing faces of these young girls around my age, trying to balance water on their heads.

Photo © Aurore Rivoalan and Pink Lady® Food Photographer of the Year 2023

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'Lunchtime at the General Hospital of Popokabaka, the Congo' by Ann-Sophie Deldycke

I took this photo in the general hospital of Popokabaka in the Republic of the Congo in October 2022. These two lovely kids were just recovering from surgery, with their parents close by their sides. The boys became friends and also kept an eye on each other, that was really nice to see.

Photo © Ann-Sophie Deldycke and Pink Lady® Food Photographer of the Year 2023

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