First Place: ZEKE Award for Documentary Photography

Carlos Folgoso Sueiro

Beyond the Lake

Spain

Adolf and Raúl’s house was burned down by neighbors over land disputes. María, an emigrant, left her son in Galicia. Years after her return, he succumbed to alcoholism, a reflection of the broader struggles faced in rural areas. The droughts of 2022/23 left 14.6% of Spain in a water emergency, exposing critically low reservoirs. The village of Aceredo, submerged by the Lindoso reservoir, has reemerged due to droughts, offering a haunting glimpse into the past.

Change driven by climate challenges, depopulation, land abandonment, emigration, and alcoholism threatens the fragile identity of Galicia’s communities.

 

First Place: ZEKE Award for Systemic Change

Jan Banning

Healing Wounds: Reconciliation in Post-Genocide Rwanda

Rwanda

Thirty years after the Rwandan genocide, remarkable partnerships have emerged: survivors reconciling with those who killed their loved ones. During the genocide, 800,000 people were killed in 100 days. Survivors bear deep scars, while perpetrators wrestle with guilt. Photographer Jan Banning and writer Dick Wittenberg spent a month meeting pairs of former enemies who have reconciled, revealing stories of immense suffering and forgiveness. While the scars of genocide remain, Rwanda demonstrates that even the most divided societies can begin to heal.

 

About the Winners

Carlos Folgoso Sueiro is a photographer from Spain with a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology. His photographic work engages closely with social, geopolitical, and environmental issues, particularly in Russia and his homeland, Galicia, Spain. His interests range from historical and philosophical topics to abstract ideas like the origin of time, gravity, the creation and destiny of the universe, and the deep feelings of human beings. In select works, Carlos investigates, from a metaphorical point of view, the atmosphere and problems of his land: nostalgia, abandonment, social rejection, exclusion, and dualisms such as oppression and domination. Other works stem from long-term documentary projects that explore isolated or self-excluded communities around remote areas of the Russian Far East. For Carlos, what once began as a story about the place itself and the people who lived there, has become a study of his evolution as a photographer. Beyond his documentary work, Carlos works as a photojournalist covering current topics such as the Lampedusa Sea, the migrant crisis in the Mediterranean, the refugee exodus from the Middle East, and the Costa Concordia disaster. His work has been published in several publications including National Geographic and Vanity Fair. He has worked closely with leading photographers and photo editors such as Jonas Bendisksen and Alex Webb and participated in the Eddie Adams Workshop and the New York Times portfolio review.

Jan Banning is an independent Dutch photographer based in the Netherlands. Banning was born to parents from the Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia) and studied social and economic history. Both his background and academic studies have strongly influenced his photographic work, whether expressed in his choice of subjects or the historical aspects of his themes. In his photographic work, the socio-political context is generally at the forefront, and he often chooses subjects that are difficult to visualize: state power, the long-term consequences of conflicts, and criminal justice. Sometimes, his work is the result of an approach that relies on sociological or anthropological classification; at other times, it focuses more on the individual psychological impact of major social events. Research plays a significant role in his work as it is the sound intellectual foundation of his projects. Banning frequently conceptualizes his approach and uses a typological method: visual research in which he looks for variations within a tightly repeated form. Banning occasionally describes himself as an “artivist,” not satisfied with merely visualizing themes through documentary work but also striving to bring about change using both his work and his reputation. His work has been showcased in countless collections and exhibitions across the world and has been published in more than a dozen photobooks and by many media outlets.

2025 ZEKE Awards Winners

Featuring: Various Artists

Curated by: Glenn Ruga

Locations

View Location Details Brooklyn Bridge Park – Emily Warren Roebling Plaza

1 Water St
Brooklyn, NY 11201

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Partners: Foundation for Systemic Change and Digital Silver Imaging

 

The views and opinions expressed in this exhibit are those of the exhibition artists and partners and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Photoville or any other participants and partners of the Photoville Festival.

• #Documentary Photography
• #Global Stories
• #Group Show