News

The Ian Parry Scholarship 2008 has been won by the freelance photographer Vicente Jaime ‘VJ’ Villafranca with a portfolio of black and white images that documented the lives of gang members of the ‘Chinese Mafia Crew’ living in downtown Manila in the Philippines.

Villafranca, a former photojournalism student at the Asian Centre for Photojournalism at the Ateneo De Manila University, has won a £3,000 prize to go towards his chosen assignment. He said: “The scholarship serves as an important role around the world to assist young photographers working on their personal projects. I will be using the money I have won to fund an upcoming project in Myanmar.” As well as the £3,000 assignment prize Villafranca is automatically added to the final list of nominees for the Joop Swart Masterclass in Amsterdam.

The Ian Parry Scholarship is an international competition open to young photographers who are attending a full-time photographic course or who are under the age of 24. It was established in memory of the photojournalist Ian Parry who died in 1989, aged just 24, when covering the Romanian Revolution whilst on assignment for The Sunday Times. This year the award entry was said to be almost double that of 2007. Canon is a co-sponsor of the award alongside The Sunday Times and Getty Images.

© Jamie Penney

The 2008 Ian Parry scholarship judges at the Frontline Club in London on 1 July 2008.

The judging took place at the Frontline Club, London on 1 July 2008 the judges also awarded ‘highly commended’ to Gianni Cipriano, and ‘commended’ accolades to Matt Eich and Gratiane de Moustier. They each receive a £500 prize.

The judging panel included Steve Blogg from Getty Images, Jonas Bendiksen (Magnum Photos), photojournalist Tom Stoddart, past winner Harriet Logan, Cheryl Newman (photography director of the Telegraph magazine), Tony Chambers (editor-in-chief of Wallpaper* magazine), Stephen Reid (art director of the Sunday Times magazine), and members of Ian Parry’s family - Ruth, John and Charles. The panel was chaired by Aidan Sullivan, vice president of photo assignments North America for Getty Images, who was the founder of the Ian Parry Scholarship.

Tony Chambers commented: “This year’s entries were the highest standard I have ever witnessed, making the decision to find one winner incredibly tough. Photojournalism is certainly alive and well.”

A print exhibition showcasing all of the winning entries in the 2008 Ian Parry Scholarship Award, plus an edited selection of other images entered into the competition, will take place from 7 to 16 August 2008 at the Getty Images Gallery in central London.