LIFE IN BALANCE

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

Wearing brightly-colored dresses, children dance through the labyrinth of shacks and narrow alleys in Kibera, the largest urban slum and one of Africa’s most desperate areas.
Nairobi's slums, with over 2.5 million people, represent more than half of its population, occupying only 5% of its area. And because of their constant population growth, there is an increase in unemployment, poverty, crime, scarcity of water and infections. Due to this heartbreaking scenario, children are the only ones who can afford to dream.

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