IMAGINE ALL THE PHOTOS
Toronto women win top prizes in photography contest focused on cultural heritage,
“We often think of dramatic world events happening in distant places, to people very different from ourselves. The current upheavals in the Middle East and the flood of refugees from that troubled area come to mind.” HANNAH MITTELSTAEDT
Inherent Sierra Nallo
Sierra Nallo, 25, was born in Canada, but her family moved to Ghana when she was 8 so she could stay closer to her father’s Sierra Leonean roots. They came back after five years and Nallo found her calling for photography at Ryerson University after a three-month trip to her father’s home village in Sumbuya in 2010. “I grew up in various cultures. I value this upbringing as it broadened my world perspective and developed a greater sense of identity,” said Nallo, a freelance photographer, who placed second. “The photograph is titled Inherent because it pertains to my cultural heritage as a key element in shaping who I am both creatively and personally. It also refers to the viewer experiencing their own personal connection to the photograph,” she said. “I love how the image juxtaposes joy with reality. The viewer is accustomed to seeing other cultures through a slanted lens, which often leads to misrepresentation and discrimination. I hope to combat these issues through my photography by showcasing the beauty and complexities of our peers.”
Taste of freedom Rowena Kizito
When Rowena Kizito, 25, got a text from a friend about the Imagine Culture photo contest, she sat on it for weeks and had no inspiration. The night before the deadline loomed, a light bulb went off. The next morning, she set up with a cutting board, curry powder, black pepper, bay leaves, a lemon and elephant earrings from Uganda for her first-place shot. “As someone who has recently moved out on her own, this shot reminds me of my parents and where they came from. Now that I live downtown, I find myself trying to emulate their flavourful cooking,” said the 25-year-old graphic designer, born in Toronto to Ugandan parents from Kampala. “What I have learned to cook has come from watching, smelling and tasting the magic they have created in the kitchen for the last 24 years. Though they are only a bus ride away from me, home for them is much farther. This shot captures things that remind me of their home.”
My Opa’s two cents Hannah Mittelstaedt
Hannah Mittelstaedt, 20, began taking photos after a serious concussion on the hockey rink forced her to quit school three years ago. “I’m not able to do anything else and I always take my camera with me whenever I take my walk,” said the aspiring photographer, the third place winner in the young adult category. Her winning image shows the hand of her German-born grandfather, Martin Mittelstaedt, holding two pennies that he saved; one from Germany’s Weimar Republic and the other when the tool-and-die maker first arrived in his new home in Canada. The family settled in Niagara Falls in 1957. “We often think of dramatic world events happening in distant places, to people very different from ourselves. The current upheavals in the Middle East and the flood of refugees from that troubled area come to mind,” she said. “The two pennies are like bookends on my Opa’s life.”