Pinay's photo wins in intl contest on gender, sexuality
Out of 3,257 entries, a Filipino photographer's shot won the best photo
award in an international contest on gender and sexuality.
Cindy Aquino's photograph from her "Bond" series, which shows two tattooed
women placing their hands on one another in a quiet moment, earned the Pride
Photo Award 2013, organizers said in a statement.
Aquino's winning photo, which can
be viewed here, "shows a very human, intimate moment,
very delicately told." said the jury that reviewed the entries.
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| Philippine photographer Cindy Aquino is the winner of the Pride Photo Award 2013 with a photo from her series ‘Bond’ |
“A lot of my friends are experiencing discrimination based on their
sexuality and gender identity. I want to show society that lesbians, gays,
bisexuals and transgenders are perfectly normal," Aquino said in the
statement.
"Like everyone else in this world, they just want to find love, bond with
others and live a happy life," she continued.
CNN published a story about the contest, and also interviewed Aquino about
her photographs' concept.
Her series also placed second in the "Extremely Normal" category. Aquino
found a "deeper meaning" in the process.
"I used the term 'bond' to show the society that even LGBT are like normal
people (who) just want to be happy with their lives, love and bond with each
other like others do, to develop interpersonal relationships with each other,”
Aquino said in the CNN article.
She spoke of the discrimination against the gay community in the
Philippines, and the fight of its members for acceptance.
"I know the issues and problems that they are dealing (with), especially
here in the Philippines; Pinoys are very conservative when it comes to that
issue,” Aquino said in the article.
“There’s a lot of discrimination going on, and most of the society still
does not accept them," she also said. — Gian C. Geronimo, ELR, GMA
News
