Latin America Professional Award 2022 Shortlist

Comprising eight per cent of the world’s population, Latin America has suffered around a third of recorded deaths from Covid-19. Its economies contracted by 7% last year, compared to 3.5% in the world as a whole. Much less discussed is that Latin America’s schools have stayed shut for longer than those in any other region. Before the pandemic, education was already a problem in Latin America, plagued by deep structural inequalities that mirrored the wide income disparity in the region. The pandemic has made this situation worse. Latin American children have lost on average around four months more of class time than students elsewhere in the world.

Irina Werning is a freelance photojournalist working on personal projects based in Buenos Aires. She studied a BA in Economics, MA in History and MA in Photojournalism. She won the Ian Parry Scholarship in 2006, BURN grant (Magnum foundation) in 2012 and 1st place portrait Sony award in 2012. She was chosen by Time Magazine as the nine Argentinian photographers you need to follow (2015). Emergency Covid Grant 2020 (National Geographic) and a Pulitzer Reporting Grant (2021).