Astrada, Kiilsgaard, Win 2009 Alexia Foundation Grants
SYRACUSE, NY (March 6, 2009) – Photojournalist Walter Astrada of Kampala, Uganada, is the winner of the 2009 Alexia Foundation Grant for professionals, and Carl Kiilsgaard, a senior history major at Western Kentucky University, is the student winner, the Alexia Foundation has announced.
The Alexia Foundation for World Peace was established by the family of Alexia Tsairis, an honors photojournalism student at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University who was a victim of the terrorist bombing of Pan Am flight #103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, on December 21, 1988. She was returning home for the Christmas holidays after spending a semester at the Syracuse University London Centre.
Alexia, known as a promising photojournalism student, had interned for the Associated Press in New York City and she was deeply committed to world peace, supporting the efforts of Amnesty International and Greenpeace. The annual photography grants to professionals and students are "dedicated to helping photographers produce pictures that promote world peace and cultural understanding."
"Persistence pays!" said Alexia chair and associate professor David C. Sutherland at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. It was the fourth year in a row Astrada had applied for the Alexia grant. Born in in Argentina in 1974, Astrada is a freelance photojournalist now based in Kampala who shoots for Agency France-Presse.
Astrada started his career as a staff photographer in La Nacion newspaper (Argentina). In 1999 he traveled in Brazil, Chile, Bolivia and Peru developing a personal project on "Faith." In September 1999 he joined the Associated Press in Bolivia and later in Argentina. From 2000 to 2002 he worked for AP in Paraguay. During 2003 he worked as a freelancer in Buenos Aires and Madrid, then at the end of 2003 he rejoined AP and was based in the Dominican Republic. From March 2005 until March 2006 he worked as a freelancer for Agence France Presse in the Dominican Republic and was represented and distributed by World Picture News. From March 2006 until December 2007 he was a freelancer in Spain.
Sutherland said there were 202 applications that, after four rounds, the judges narrowed it down to five professional division finalists. After much deliberation, Astrada’s proposal was finally chosen for the grant. The other four finalists were Oleg Kilmov, Saiful Hug Omi, Aaron Huey, and Louis Palu.
Kiilsgaard won the Alexia student competition with a proposal to document poverty in eastern Kentucky. Sutherland said there were 55 student entries from about 30 universities.
Kiilsgaard is a senior history major at WKU and is from Corvallis, OR. He has interned at the Bucks County (PA) Times, the Napa (CA) Register, and The Palm Beach Post. He was one of Getty Images Reportage’s Emerging Talent picks in 2008. Kiilsgaard was awarded a full tuition scholarship to study photojournalism at Syracuse University in London in the Fall of 2009, plus a $1,000 cash grant to help produce his project, Sutherland said.
The second place student winner was Yanina Manolova, a graduate student at Ohio University. Manolova was awarded a half tuition scholarship to study photojournalism at Syracuse University in London in the Fall of 2009, plus a $500 cash grant to help produce his project.
Awards of Excellence were given to Philip Scott Andrews, a senior at WKU, Khaled Hasan, a student at Pathshala South Asian Institute of Photography in Bangladesh, and Bryan Anselm, a WKU senior. Award of Excellence winners receive a $1,600 scholarship that pays part of tuition, fees and living expenses to study photojournalism in London in the fall semester at Syracuse University in London and a $500 cash grant to help produce their proposed stories.
The judging was done at Syracuse University in late February, and the judges were Sherman Williams, AME/Visuals at the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel; Bob Houlihan, director of photography at the Detroit News; and Aphrodite Tsairis, who with her husband Peter, created the Alexia Foundation 20 years ago.
NPPA Marketplace
- Insure Your Equipment
- You go where the action is….so should your insurance! Hays delivers comprehensive insurance for your gear - covering cameras, computers, editing equipment and rental.
- Join the NPPA
- NPPA members receive a wide range of benefits, from educational opportunities to mentoring, exclusive discounts, insurance options, business tips, and much more.