Caught unawares, cameraman wins top award
ALL HE wanted to do was take a newsworthy picture of a protest, never thinking that it would land him an international award.
Yesterday African News Agency (ANA) photojournalist Phandulwazi “Phando” Jikelo, was announced as the winner in the Top News category in the Andrei Stenin International Press Photo Contest.
Jikelo’s winning entry, taken at a housing protest in Grabouw, was one of 5 000 from 76 countries. The award is organised by the Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency in conjunction with Unesco.
Jikelo said he remembered going down on one knee to get the perfect angle for the shot and was overwhelmed that it got him the honour.
“I remember it was a protest and this boy swung the tyre and I was just taking pictures of the protest and looking for something newsworthy. I was the only one that got that shot.”
He said he was thankful for the team of photographers he works with as he has learnt a lot from them.
“I never thought I would get to this stage and be a winner in this category. It makes me happy to see that my work has been recognised as international award-winning work. I do my work with a lot of dedication and this shows that if you are determined things will happen.”
Jikelo hopes to jet off to Russia to be able to receive his award when the ceremony is held next month.
Independent Media executive chairman Dr Iqbal Survé congratulated Jikelo and said this award was an acknowledgement of his excellent work.
“We must not forget the reasons why he was in Grabouw on that day, and how dangerous the situation was. I commend him for being a fearless photojournalist.
“As an ardent news follower, I have, over the years, been able to identify the styles of many of our photojournalists, Phando being one of them. He has the eye and the fearless heart of a photojournalist,” Survé said.