This year, we were looking for photos showing inaccessible places for persons with disabilities in various areas of life. We would like to thank all the participants for having sent us their photos, we received a big amount of submissions this year, making the final selection challenging for the judges!
We want to congratulate our three winners:
Benno Fleig, Germany. Winner 1st prize
A student tries to enter the local university library at Heidelberg, Germany. He already fails at the stairs. The photo was taken by one of his assistants, who is an amateur photographer.
The student in the photo explains: “It is hard to get a book at the library! While other students only have to climb a few steps to borrow a book, I have to drive around the building, ring a back doorbell, and wait several minutes until a staff member opens a backdoor. I then have to cross a cobblestoned backyard to reach a hidden elevator. Therefore, visiting the library costs me plenty of time and effort and would not be possible without a personal assistant. People with disabilities encounter many difficulties during their studies at the university. They have to deal with issues like architectural barriers, assistance for daily work, and so on. We have to remove barriers everywhere – in our environment and in in the heads of society! Education is a basic right, and of course, academic education is a part of that. Let’s work together for an education system in the sense of article 24 of the CRPD.”
Alt text: A young man sits in a wheelchair in front of the entrance of an old building. The letters above the entrance say “Universitäts-Bibliothek” which is German and means university library. The young man wears a dark jacket, glasses, and a mouth protection. He looks towards the entrance where another student is about to enter the building by taking the stairs. It is a black-and-white photography.
Reinmfried Blaha, Germany. Winner 2nd prize
The picture was taken in Pirenopolis, Brasil.
Pirenopolis is an old colonial town in the heart of Brasil. The area is well known for many pristine waterfalls. Unfortunately, they are not wheelchair accessible. With a friend I still managed to see a set of gorgeous ones. We hiked for more than an hour through the jungle. Most of the time he carried me on his back like you can see it in the picture. Our friendly cab driver followed with the wheelchair. What an adventure!
Leona Tuck, Ireland. Winner 3rd Prize
The title of the photo is “The Space between Us” and it was taken in Dublin, Ireland.
Alt Text: Photo shows two joggers running along previously designated on-street disabled parking spaces that are now displaced due to the earmarking of this space for cycle lane development. Now displaced, these new designated bays are sandwiched in between a contraflow cycle lane and a one way traffic system. Bollards are lined up along the right handside of the new parking bays to prevent car doors from hitting cyclists. This photo was taken in Dún Laoghaire, where you’ll find Ireland’s only National Rehabilitation Hospital which helps patients return to society as wheelchair users.
From EDF we would like to also congratulate the rest of the participants and encourage everyone to participate in the upcoming photo competition 2021!