(PRAGUE – November 22, 2017) Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) photojournalist Amos Chapple took home a Czech Press Photo Award last night at a ceremony held in Prague’s Old Town Hall marking 23 years of the prestigious international video and photo contest.
“As a New Zealander, it’s an honor to be able to live in a country like the Czech Republic. To then be given an award on a stage in the heart of Prague’s Old Town is just amazing,” Chapple said after the event.
Chapple’s winning photograph in the contest’s Lifestyle category, titled Meditation, was chosen from six shortlisted entries. The competition received more than 7,000 submissions for its ten categories this year.
The winning shot shows 27-year old Boleslav Vavilov meditating during some time off from work. It belongs to Chapple’s series The Buddhists Vs. The Billionaire, which depicts the struggle for survival of a monastery on an isolated mountaintop in Russia’s Ural Mountains. Built over the past 21 years by a small group of Buddhists, the monastery is on land claimed by a company belonging to one of Russia’s most powerful oligarchs, and faces removal.
Regarding his photo’s subject, Chapple said, “He [Vavilov] is devoted to Buddhism but doesn’t let it take over his sense of fun,” adding that he hopes to get in touch with him soon and looks forward to “buying him a couple of beers.”
The contest’s winning photographs will be exhibited in Prague’s Old Town Hall from 22 November to 30 January 2018.