Uganda Press Photo Award
FOTEA Foundation is proud to announce the winners of its three flagship competitions, the 14th Uganda Press Photo Award (UPPA), the 8th East African Photography Award (EAPA), and the 10th Young Photographer Award (YPA). With our continued partnership with Fujifilm, the year’s competition winners were awarded Fujifilm cameras and kit lenses.
The East African Photography Award (EAPA)
Now in its eighth year, the EAPA celebrates documentary and artistic work from across the region—Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda—that reflects contemporary life in East Africa.
🔸 Overall Stories Winner: Amar Abdalla (Sudan) for Temporary Homes —a deeply personal project reflecting on his family's displacement and the ways they create belonging in impermanent spaces while carrying memories of their former home. Prize: Fujifilm X-T5 camera + XF 16-50 kit.
🔸 Overall Single Image & Planet Winner: Katumba Badru (Uganda) for What Next —a striking portrait capturing grief and uncertainty as people search for loved ones after floods and landslides in Masugu. Prize: Fujifilm X-T50 camera + XF 16-50 kit.
Winners were selected by a distinguished jury including Martin Kharumwa, Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi, Maggie Soladay, Luis Tato, and Sana Ullah.
The Uganda Press Photo Award (UPPA)
The UPPA continues its tradition of recognizing outstanding photojournalism and documentary photography in Uganda.
🔸Winner: Timothy Akolamazima for Beyond the Barre: Stories of Ballet in Uganda —a moving exploration of ballet in Uganda, documenting the passion and determination of dancers pursuing an art often overlooked in the local cultural landscape. Prize: Fujifilm X-T50 camera + XF 16-50 kit.
The 2025 UPPA jury included Ala Kheir (Sudan), Maheder Haileselassie (Ethiopia), and Edward Echwalu (Uganda).
The Young Photographer Award (YPA)
Dedicated to nurturing new voices, YPA supports emerging photographers through mentorship and training.
🔸Winner: Agaba Joel Gabriel a Kampala-based DJ, photographer, and theatre maker whose experimental works explore memory, place, and belonging through everyday life. Prize: Fujifilm X-S20 camera + XF 16-50 kit + place in the Emerging Photographer Mentorship Programme.
Judges included Zahara Abdul, Dennis Kimbugwe, and Esther Ruth Mbabazi.
The exhibition also features Salt Mining on Lake Katwe, a project produced during the 2025 mentorship programme from last year's Young Photographer Award winner Barbra Mercy Leni, which vividly showcases the vital but hazardous livelihood of the salt miners. It details their endurance of harsh conditions and health risks for meager pay, underscoring the urgent need for formal protections, better tools, and health support; highlighting a critical gap between Uganda's labor policies and the harsh, unprotected reality of their informal livelihood.
This year's celebration of visual storytelling is made possible by our valued partnerships with Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Fujifilm Middle East FZE, the Embassy of Sweden in Uganda, the EU Delegation in Uganda and Future Generation Foundation.
You can see some of the highlights of the opening event here.
THE COMPLETE LIST OF WINNERS
East African Photography Award
EAPA Stories
1. Amar Abdalla (Sudan)
2. Jeremiah Onyango (Kenya)
3. Maureen Gathoni (Kenya)
4. Daniel Irungu Mwangi (Kenya)
HM Sosina Mengistu (Ethiopia)
EAPA Single Images
🔸 Category: Human
1. Israa Alrrayah (Sudan)
2. Donwilson Odhiambo (Kenya)
HM Lucas Oyugi (Kenya)
🔸 Category: Planet
1. Katumba Badru (Kenya)
2. Anthony Ochieng Onyango (Kenya)
3. Edwin Ndeke (Kenya)
HM Anthony Ochieng Onyango (Kenya)
🔸 Category: Imagine
1. Natnael Ashebir (Ethiopia)
HM Kevin Ochieng (Kenya)
Uganda Press Photo Award
1. Timothy Akolamazima
2. Serina Efrance Kirabo
3. Vanessa Mulondo
HM Tumwine Peter Simon
Young Photographer Award
1. Agaba Joel Gabriel
2. Victor Kibalama
3. Hannah Bitebekezi
HM Sandra Agwico
(HM = Honorable Mention)