KAMPALA – The deputy head of the European Union (EU) delegation to Uganda, Ms. Anna Merrifield has bought a photo taken by Daily Monitor’s photojournalist Alex Esagala during the recent Makerere students’ tuition protests.
Ms. Merrifield who recently tipped Esagala to winning the next Uganda Press Photo Award said she loves the photo because of its composition that she says looks “like painting while telling an important news story”.
“I’m always happy to support professional journalism that is why I’m very proud of my own print copy of this fantastic photo taken by very talented [Alex Esagala] of Daily Monitor,” she twitted.
I am always happy to support professional journalism, that is why I am very proud of my own print copy of this fantastic photo taken by the very talented ?@ESAGALAA? of the ?@DailyMonitor?! The composition is like a painting while telling an important news story. pic.twitter.com/Q1t7kfsox3
— Anna Merrifield (@AnnaTheFinn) November 20, 2019
Esagala declined to disclose the actual dollars from becoming public knowledge.
The photo shows a perfect composition of what happened at Makerere during the recent tuition demo, with a man braving through a thick smoke of a burning car tyre.
Commenting on the same, NTV Uganda acting head of News Josephine Karungi said that Esagala’s pictures do not lie.
“The work you do makes all the difference,” she said adding that she is also very proud of him.
“When they say pictures do not lie, this what they mean. That no matter how many words we put next to the picture, the story is often better told with visuals captured at just the right moment,” Ms. Karungi said.
He won his first Award as a Photojournalist in 2017, two years after joining Daily Monitor.
He scooped the Best Photo Journalist prize during the Uganda National Journalism Awards ceremony organised by African Centre for Media Excellence (ACME) in 2017.
He also won the grand prize at the 2018 Uganda Press Photo Award (UPPA) for his image titled Makerere Student Protests, walking home with a professional camera, the Canon EOS 5D Mark III, which came with an EF 24-105mm lens.
The Vice-Chancellor of Makerere University, Prof Barnabas Nawangwe, in November 2018 commended and invited him to Makerere for official recognition.
Prof Nawangwe at the time said he was happy with the strides Mr. Esagala had achieved in the journalism space so far.
Esagala who is the Chief Parliamentary Photojournalist of Daily Monitor has since been hired by the Makerere University Department of Journalism to lecture Photo-Journalism in the 4th year class, an opportunity to which he is grateful.
Nation Media Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Steven Gitagama and Nation Media Group (NMG) Uganda managing director, Mr. Tony Glencros have since applauded the lensman for the job well done.
Esagala, who is a graduate of journalism and communication from Makerere, says his success is attributed to his workmates including Eric Dominic’ (his boss), Abubaker Lubowa, Michael Cranes Kakumirizi, Eddie Chico and Ismail Kezaala.
Others include John Batanudde, Rachel Mabala, Stephen Otage, Chris Atukwasize Ogon, among others.
