Tanmoy Bhaduri won the Ashish Yechury Memorial Award for Photojournalism 2022 for his photo essay published alongside Roli Srivastava’s piece on the lives and dreams of those who earn their livelihood by scavenging coal in Jharia, one of the coalfields in Jharkhand, India. The story ‘Children of India’s burning coalfields dream of a fire-free future’ is published in Context, a Thomson Reuters Foundation platform. Bhaduri’s images capture the harsh realities of the coal industry and its impact on the lives of ordinary people. His work is a testament to the power of visual storytelling.The final jury comprising Ruben Banerjee (Chairperson), Jayalakshmi Shreedhar and V. Krishna Ananth chose the winners from shortlisted entries.
The award, which comprises a trophy, a citation and INR 100,000/- in prize money, was presented to the winner by the Chief Guest Chander Uday Singh, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of India,, at the Convocation of the ACJ Class of 2023.
The jury’s citation read as follows:
“In the very first year of its institution, the number of entries received for the Ashish Yechury Memorial Award for Photojournalism is indeed overwhelming. And among them are Tanmoy Bhaduri’s pictures in an essay by Roli Srivastava on the lives and dreams of those who earn their livelihood by scavenging coal in Jharia, one of the coalfields in Jharkhand, India. The story ‘Children of India’s burning coalfields dream of a fire-free future’ is published in Context, a Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Bhaduri’s pictures depict life amidst a dark present; a child in one of the frames in this story peeps out through a gaping hole on the dilapidated wall, only to see darkness on the other side. The engulfing smoke from the insomniac embers hides the very darkness from our naked eyes. Tanmoy Bhaduri captures this darkness that is swallowing Jharia, a mining town in Jharkhand. The pictures tell us a story of the mining pits glowing brighter than the happiest of smiles as families scavenge coal with their darkened hands.
Yet another picture, where the women coal loaders pose for a shot, stands out for its elegant composition and the profound sense of humanity it conveys. In the photograph that follows you see three younger women, also posing, captured in a tighter frame. The contrast between the figures in these two pictures creates a powerful narrative about this coal landscape. Bhaduri juxtoposes the tough physicality of the terrain with the resilience of the residents. The comprehensiveness – how it brings together the harshness of life on the coal terrain, the inner life of workers, and the complexities involved in their proposed rehabilitation plan – is what impressed the jury and led to this award.”
Other stories that were considered as final nominations and have been awarded special mentions by the jury (in no particular order) are as follows: