Prize winner: Jean Bogais - The photo below "World"s Apart is PHAA Public Health Art Prize winner for 2023.
PHAA (Public Health Association of Australia) statement: "The photo, taken in Sydney, illustrates how someone's social conditions can influence their life and human rights. In the submission, Jean also highlighted the contrast between this man working alone on the ground on a dirty fishing wharf cleaning a large net barehand without tools or protection, and the modern industrial development nearby."
The organiser and sponsor of this competition, the Public Health Association is Australia's peak body for public health, advocating for the health and well-being of all Australians.
======================================================
Competition details: photo and text.
Please explain the public health significance of the subject matter (30 words)
Lone fisherman cleaning a large net barehand on a dirty wharf at a Sydney market. His case illustrates how social conditions can determine his human rights and affect his life.
Artist’s statement about the work (optional) (350 word limit)
What caught my attention was the contrast between this man of foreign background working alone on the ground on a dirty fishing wharf cleaning a large net barehand without tools and protection, and the modern industrial development site nearby.
The social conditions created by the non-compliance with regulations and the (often) non-observance of health and safety across the industry determine how the human rights and working conditions of fishermen are impacted and consequently how their lives are affected. As it is, the industry is exploitative, profit-driven, insensitive to prosecution for wrong-doings, and the workers have little to no security. Their income depends on the size of the catch, for example. This man told me that he lives onboard the fishing boat, no doubt in rudimentary conditions, as he cannot afford an accommodation on land. He has no rights, cannot complain or be sick; his "life" depends entirely on the owner of the fishing business. His task must be finished on time for the boat to go back at sea, failure to comply with his obligations–for whatever reasons–can cost him his ‘job’ and leave him homeless. Many workers in the industry are migrants, with or without visa, adding to the complexity of social conditions. In sharp contrast, in the modern development site nearby working conditions would be respected, and workers would be able to return to a home at the end of the day and enjoy family and social networks among other freedoms and security, which the fisherman in the photo has little to no access to.
Photo made with Leica M.
