Safal Group, a steel building solutions provider and manufacturer, has announced winners of the Safal Eye in the Wild (SEITW) photography competition 2021.
Anthony Ochieng Onyango from Kenya was crowned overall winner of the SEITW Photography Competition 2021. He won the Gold Award and took home a Ksh, 339,000 (USD 3,000) cash prize.
Sushil Chauhan also from Kenya was in second place and received the Silver Award that comes with Ksh, 226,000 (USD 2,000). Third in place was Osse Sinnare from Tanzania who received Bronze Award and Ksh. 113,000 (USD 1,000).
The Public/People’s choice award was won by Johnson Makau from Kenya, while staff winner was Suud Abry, an MRM staff from Mariakani, Kenya.
The Safal Group launched the 2021 competition earlier in September, under the theme, ‘African Landscapes through the Lens.’ The aim of the competition was to celebrate Africa’s diversity and beauty and to trigger conversations on sustainable conservation. The competition received a total of 1,091 entries were submitted from nine African countries, Italy, US and UK.
Speaking at the Awards ceremony, Safal Group CEO, Anders Lindgren said, “This was a unique and highly contested competition that attracted participants from across Africa who took the opportunity to use photography to highlight the strategic significance the Environment plays in our lives” Anders said. He further reiterated that the environment is a resource that we have been given with abundance but one which we are called upon to protect judiciously.”
Safal Eye in the Wild was started in 2017, known as MRM Eye in the Wild. The competition intends to use Photography as a medium to amplify the Safal Way and drive conversation around care for our environment.
In 2018, the competition was rebranded to Safal Eye in the Wild (SEIW) with the intention of drawing the interest and participation of other Safal Operations in East Africa and increasing the number of entries. The competition focused on trees, with the hash tag #StopTheChop. The theme attracted 538 entries.
In 2019, the competition focused on water conservation with the hashtag #EveryDropCounts. This time the competition was across the East African region and we got 340 entries.
This year, 2021, the competition focused on African Landscapes through the Lens, the goal was to celebrate Africa’s diversity and beauty.