Honorable Mention / 2019 / Portraiture / Culture

• Photographer
  Ann Johansson, United States
• Studio
  Ann Johansson Photography

Every morning, men and boys are busy moving illegally scavenged coal in bags stacked on overloaded bicycles along the streets of Dhanbad. Dhanbad is the “coal capital” in Jharkhand state in India. These men and boys worry they will be stopped by police. If they are stopped, bribes work to pay off officials which eats in to their meager earnings. One bag of coal fetches between 150-160 rupees but the price is negotiable. They push their bicycles along, at times lucky enough to roll downhill, always looking over their shoulders to see if they are about to be stopped by police.