Systemic Change Photography Prize

2025 WINNER:

Healing Wounds: Reconciliation in Post-Genocide Rwanda

Rose Mukarusagara (60) lost her two eldest children and almost her entire family during the genocide. On April 10, 1994, a group, including Ezechiel Niyibizi (46), attacked her, killed her baby, her sister-in-law, and left Rose severely injured. Her right hand still shows the scars. In 2014, Rose joined CBS Rwanda’s sociotherapy, seeking healing. During the sessions, Ezechiel apologized for killing her baby, and eventually, she forgave him. Photo by Jan Banning.

ABOUT HEALING WOUNDS: RECONCILIATION IN POST-GENOCIDE RWANDA

Thirty years after the 1994 Rwandan genocide, remarkable partnerships have emerged: survivors reconciling with those who killed their loved ones—a profound journey toward healing.

During the genocide, 800,000 people were killed in 100 days, often by neighbors using crude weapons. Survivors bear deep scars, while perpetrators wrestle with guilt. Photographer Jan Banning and writer Dick Wittenberg spent a month meeting pairs of former enemies who reconciled, revealing stories of immense suffering and forgiveness.

Over 20% of Rwandans face trauma, with rates exceeding 50% among survivors. To address this, CBS Rwanda introduced a community-based sociotherapy program in 2005. More than 64,000 participants, supported by 1,000 trained volunteers, engage in sessions blending safety, care, and storytelling. Singing, dancing, and shared narratives foster trust and empathy.

Many perpetrators express remorse, and 80% of groups continue meeting, maintaining transformative bonds and rekindling friendships.While the scars of genocide remain, Rwanda demonstrates that even the most divided societies can begin to heal.

ABOUT JAN BANNING

Jan Banning is an independent Dutch photographer based in the Netherlands. Banning was born to parents from the Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia) and studied social and economic history. Both his background and academics have strongly influenced his photographic work, whether expressed in his choice of subjects or the historical aspects of his themes. In his photographic work, the socio-political context is generally at the forefront, and he often chooses subjects that are difficult to visualize: state power, the long-term consequences of conflicts, and criminal justice. Sometimes, his work is the result of an approach that relies on sociological or anthropological classification; at other times, it focuses more on the individual psychological impact of major social events. Research plays a significant role in his work as it is the sound intellectual foundation of his projects. Banning frequently conceptualizes his approach and uses a typological method: visual research in which he looks for variations within a tightly repeated form. Banning occasionally describes himself as an ‘artivist,’ not satisfied with merely visualizing themes through documentary work but also striving to bring about change using both his work and his reputation. His work has been showcased in countless collections and exhibitions across the world and has been published in more than a dozen photobooks and by many media outlets. 

The 2024 Systemic Change Photography Prize goes to Sarah Fretell for Guardian of the Forest, Peru

Apu Quinto Inuma was a former lumber trafficker turned park ranger turned rogue Forest Guardian. He became a tireless international advocate for the environment and Native rights and his community of Santa Rosillo in the Amazon of Peru.

To prevent the devastation of land, logging, and drug cartels operating in neighboring communities, Quinto organized other Natives to patrol the forest even after the government denied their ancestral rights to the territory. They worked to protect their children's future and “their brothers who could not speak” — the trees of the forest.

With old guns, machetes, and rubber boots, the volunteer Forest Guardians risk their lives to monitor the buffer region of Cordillera Azul National Park beside their village in San Martin. On patrols, they look for new burn and grow areas, document it with cell phones, and send the notes back to local officials. Struggling to survive in this remote region, many people here work for illegal logging and drug cartels.

In November of 2023, Quinto was shot and killed in retaliation for his environmental work.

His spirit still lives on in the forest.