National Womb: Baby Boom in Nagorno Karabakh project wins international award

PanARMENIAN.Net - The National Womb: Baby Boom in Nagorno Karabakh project by London-based photojournalist Anastasia Taylor-Lind, won Project Award 2012, organized by Center, a non-profit photographic organization in Santa Fe.

The project documents the "birth encouragement program" initiated by the Nagorno Karabakh's government to repopulate the region following the 1991-94 war waged by Azerbaijan.

"Since its introduction four years ago, the 'birth encouragement program' is credited for an increased birthrate of 25.5% from 2145 recorded births in 2007 to 2694 in 2010," writes Taylor-Lind.

"The program is administered by the Department of Social Security, which oversees the payments to married couples of approximately €575 at their wedding. They are paid €190 for the first baby born, €380 for the second, €950 for the third and €1350 for a fourth. Families with six children under the age of 18 are given a house."

Her work was selected by a panel of jurors that included curator Greg Hobson of the National Media Museum, Paul Moakley, a deputy photo editor with Time Magazine, and Christopher Steighner of Rizzoli Publications, .bjp-online.com says.

“Despite where the work was made or the nationality of the photographer, what made for a winning project was that it explored universal themes. They had an international scope in some way and hit on issues that affect us all," the statement of the jury representing Denmark, Mexico, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States said.