1st Place

Jan Banning

"Healing Wounds: Reconciliation in Post-Genocide Rwanda. "

Survivor Marianna Nyirantgorama (58) sits with the murderer of her sister, whom she has forgiven. She fled with her family to a church when the genocide began, where most of them were killed. She and one sister survived by hiding among the bodies, and later escaped to Bisesero, where many Tutsis died after being abandoned by French peacekeeping forces.
 In 2018, Marianna joined a CBS Rwanda social therapy group, where she encountered Marc Nyandekwe (60), a neighbor who killed her sister, looted their home, and participated in the Bisesero killings. During therapy, she forgave him.

Review by Arthur Ollman

This is a portrait of two people who have attempted, and seemingly succeeded in doing something superhuman. And the picture makes it seem possible. This all takes place in a sort of Eden, an exquisite, fertile, and dramatic landscape. Such a place, one might assume is idyllic and filled with happy people enjoying the bounty of a generous earth. Dark, rich soil, successful plots in the background, abundant rain, with cane and taro plants growing profusely around a couple. The intense color of the crops sets off the brilliance of the woman’s dress and her sandals. The woman has been through the unimaginable, and looks at the camera with equanimity if not indifference. The man, standing by her side looks more than disturbed and perhaps volatile. He seems diminished, possibly by age, but given the backstory, more likely he is a broken person. Broken by the extremity of his own rage and the knowledge that he is capable of the unspeakable. He has served his prison sentence and has worked hard to try to repair what cannot be repaired, cannot be forgotten, but possibly can be forgiven. And the woman has done the most miraculous thing…forgiven the man who decimated her life. The image refers to growth of plant life and the rarer human psychological capacity for forgiveness. Their body language speaks to the irreconcilable differences between them. She in a closed off posture and he, clasping his arms behind his back, to show restraint and the inability to reach out to her. But she has forgiven the devastation he wrought. The photographer has wisely not brought attention to themselves or to their process. The subject, and titling stands strongly enough. Stories like this have never been more necessary in a nation and planet deeply in need of repair and reconciliation.