Entry Title: " The Last Colony"
Name: Andrew McConnell, United Kingdom
Category: Professional, Night Photography


Entry Description:

The territory of Western Sahara is Africa's last open file at the United Nations Decolonisation Committee. Moroccan invaded the territory in 1975 and forced colonial power Spain to withdraw without holding a UN sanctioned referendum on the future of the state. Spain divided the land between Morocco and Mauritania, ignoring the pleas of the indigenous Saharawi people and a ruling by the International Court of Justice which found neither country had any sovereignty over the territory.

A war ensued between Morocco and the Saharawi rebel group, Frente Polisario. Thousands of Saharawis fled and set up refugee camps across the border in neighbouring Algeria where they remain to this day, their numbers having grown to some 170,000. A ceasefire was signed in 1991 with the agreement that a referendum on self-determination would be held the following year. Nineteen years later that referendum has yet to take place, while for the Saharawi people a sense of injustice, hopelessness, and anger grows ever stronger.

Andrew McConnell was born in Northern Ireland in 1977 and began his career as a press photographer covering the closing stages of the conflict in his homeland and the transition to peace. He later worked in Asia and moved to Africa in 2007 to document the issues and stories of that continent which are widely overlooked by the international media. His images have appeared appeared internationally in publications such as National Geographic Magazine, Newsweek, Time, New York Times, the Guardian, FT Magazine, L'Express, Vanity Fair (Italy), the Sunday Times Magazine, and Internazionale. His work has been exhibited widely including at Visa Pour L'Image, La Casa Encendida, Madrid, London's Getty Gallery and the Houses of Parliament. His latest work on Western Sahara is due to travel extensively with openings in Spain and New York in September 2010. Awards: Best of Photojournalism, Enterprise Story, Runner Up, (2010) Best of Photojournalism, Portrait Series, Honourable Mention, (2010) Luis Valtueña 12th International Humanitarian Photography Award, Winner (2009) Terry O’Neill Award, Runner Up, (2009) Sony World Photography Awards, short-listed, (2009) CARE International Humanitarian Award, short-listed, (2009) Magenta Foundation, Emerging Photographers Award, winner, (2009) Bayeux Calvados Award for War Correspondents, short-listed, (2008) British Telecom Northern Ireland Press Photographer of the Year, Winner (2002)