Victoria Ines Dobaño and Rodrigo Terren Toro from Escuela Argentina de Fotografía, Argentina, are today, 27 July, announced as the winners of the Student Focus Competition for the Sony World Photography Awards 2010.
From the 120 institutions initially selected to compete, 12 students were shortlisted from six institutions across six continents to take part in the final stage of the competition. The students’ challenge was to produce a series of six photographs that explored the notion of ‘Power’. The 12 students were given two weeks to complete the exercise within their local community. The 12 winning students and the overall winning university received a combined prize of €45,000 worth of digital SLR photographic equipment, courtesy of Sony.
Victoria Ines Dobaño and Rodrigo Terren Toro’s winning images, entitled Villa Epecuen, depict the overwhelming power of water. Villa Epecuen in Argentina was a town which for many years drew tourists who believed that its saltwater lake had healing properties. It was a sacred place for the native people of Argentina.
In 1985 Villa Epecuen was completely flooded when the lake overflowed its embankments, covering over half the town. The aftermath of the disaster reveals the powerful and devastating effects of water.