THE WALL OF SILENCE

• Prize
• Photographer
  Mauro De Bettio, Spain
• Studio
  Mauro De Bettio
• Website
  https://www.maurodebettio.com
• Instagram
  https://www.instagram.com/mauro_de_bettio/

At 22:39 on October 9, 1963, a 2 km long landslide of more than 270
million cubic meters of rock breaks off the Toc mountain and slip down
the valley, crashing inside the artificial lake. The water forms a 250m
high wave that flies in the sky and then crashes down on Longarone,
erasing it forever from the maps.Two thousand people are, now, one
with the earth. Only 50 are the survivors. Everything was done to take
away their dignity, to convince them that nothing was due to them.The
greatest protagonist of this painful and infinite catastrophe is the silence
that wounds the dead, the relatives, the survivors, the rescuers and all
those who came after.Still, the silence of a family, mine.For them, as for
me, it’s a path, to get rid of a nightmare that began on that day. A path
to start talking again, to trust and to love.

Mauro De Bettio is an internationally recognized photographer and storyteller capturing the heart of remote and complex worlds. His work documents acid attack survivors in Bangladesh, Manila’s prisons, life in Afghanistan, the dreams of African slum ballerinas, and Asia’s largest sex worker communities. In 2021, he founded the Malaika Foundation to support food, healthcare, and opportunities for brighter futures, giving voice to the voiceless.

Awards 2025 - Overall Winner Our Nature Photo Awards

2025 - Photographer Of The Year 1839 Awards - Storytelling category

2025 - 1st Prize Winner Istanbul Photo Awards - Single Portrait

2025 - Winner Travel Photographer of the Year: The People’s Choice Award

2024 - Winner Prix de la Photographie Paris

2024 - Winner World Water Day Photo Contest

2023 - Winner Prix de la Photographie Paris

2022 - Overall Winner American Photography Open

2022 - Overall Winner FIIPA

2021 - ND Photographer of the Year

2021 - Winner URBAN Photo Award

2020 - Winner Portrait of Humanity

2020 - Overall Winner AAP

2018 - Winner Malta International Photo Award

2018 - Winner National Geographic Italy

2018 - Winner American Photography Open

2018 - Winner LENSCULTURE Portrait Awards