photography award 2025
Threads by Emmanuelle Andrianjafy is a tender portrayal of family, tracing a journey of self-reflection. After leaving Madagascar as a young adult, the artist returned annually, but it wasn’t until much later that she began photographing her close family. What began as a process of questioning the world she grew up in, evolved into a quiet, reflective practice, where presence itself – mediated by the camera – becomes an act of care. Across geographies, from Madagascar to Dakar, Nairobi and the mountains of East Africa, the work remains anchored in an internal landscape, guided by intuition.
Andrianjafy’s photographs focus on ordinary situations: shared spaces, daily routines and familiar gestures. Nothing is emphasized or explained. Over time, these moments carry more weight in anticipation of the inevitability of loss. As Andrianjafy navigates the changing nature of her relationships, the work does not try to resolve her feelings, but holds onto what it can – small, precise fragments that register familiarity and closeness. Interwoven with portraits, still-life images, street and landscape photography, the work is less about documenting a place or community than about cultivating connection, preserving memories, and making sense of one’s inner world through attention to both her environment and the people in it.
