Louie Palu, a photographer I much admire because of his past photographic exploits has just secured the Alexia Foundation Grant for Professionals. The $15,000 award will allow Palu to continue his project Kandahar.

NPPA quotes Palu:

“I wanted to start balancing the coverage of the war and look more at the Afghan civilian situation. Once labeled as ‘The Forgotten War’ by many in the media only a few years ago, when I arrived in Kandahar in 2006 and up until 2008 very little international media was interested in Afghanistan. I hope we never forget like that again.”

I don’t think we will, not in today’s media climate that has swung full circle back to great emphasis on the politics of the nine year old conflict.

See Palu’s full proposal and portfolio at the Alexia Foundation website, and view his video work at the Atlantic.

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Juliette Lynch won the Alexia Foundation Grant for Students.

And despite all her amazing work, I just had to post this image (not from her portfolio) of her celebrating the win! I think it deserves an award itself.

Photo by Andrew Maclean. Bruce Strong and Juliette Lynch rejoice as Lynch is named winner of the 2010 Alexia Student Competition. SOURCE

Well done Juliette.

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The Alexia Foundation for World Peace was established by the family of Alexia Tsairis, an honors photojournalism student at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University who was a victim of the terrorist bombing of Pan Am flight #103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, on December 21, 1988. She was returning home for the Christmas holidays after spending a semester at the Syracuse University London Centre.

Don’t get lost in the impressive Alexia Archives