Photojournalism nominee

Tanjim and Marjia are sisters from Bhola near Barisal in Southern Bangladesh. Majia is 16 years old and Marjia 7 years. A man from a nearby village had been stalking and harassing Tanjim, because he wanted to marry her. Tanjim was not interested in his proposal. She was busy in school and had other dreams.

On 15th May 2018 2:00am, the man broke into Tanjim’s home and threw acid on Tanjim and Marjia while they were asleep. Tanjim passed away on Saturday 7th July 2018 9:30pm due to kidney and lung failure and other complications caused by the acid.

In Bangladesh, the number of acid attacks has declined in recent years, but acid violence is still a very disturbing phenomenon in the country. Every week, hospitals in different parts of the Bangladesh receive acid attack patients, and one acid attack is one too many. Much still remains to be done in terms of improving the way that national and district authorities and law enforcers are handling acid violence in Bangladesh. The two national laws are comprehensive as they are written, however, implementation and enforcement remain weak.

Jan Møller Hansen (b. 1964) is a self-taught photographer, who works with visual story telling and social documentary. He has undertaken documentary photography work in Bangladesh, Nepal and South Sudan, where he lived and worked as a senior diplomat, and development/humanitarian aid specialist.

Jan Møller Hansen has won first and second prices for his documentary and photojournalistic work in the International Photographer Awards, La Grande Photography Awards, Fine Art Photography Awards, Monochrome Photography Awards, Neutral Density Photography Awards, Monovisions and other competitions. In 2015, he published the book ”Images of Nepal”, Jagadamba Press, and was recognised as the IPA People Photographer of the Year 2015.

His visual stories and documentary photography work focus on the lives and conditions of poor, marginalised and stigmatised people, living with conflict, displacement, insecurity, injustice, inequality and corruption. All his photography projects share a profound interest in human rights, dignity and the belief that everyone has the right to be recognised as a human being, regardless of social background, family relations, or