BROOKLYN, NY.- The annual award recognizes a photographer whose work demonstrates courage and commitment in the pursuit of social justice. FotoEvidence will publish Bhopal Second Disaster and mount a show of the work, and that of the four finalists, at the VII Photo Agency gallery in New York City.

Bhopal Second Disaster by Alex Masi provides a painful reminder of the long-term consequences of the industrial pollution. Twenty-eight years after the accidental release of the poisonous gas, at a Union Carbide industrial complex in India, killed more than 8,000 people, whole communities inhabit a polluted landscape with poisoned water that produces birth defects, neurogical damage, and an array of illnesses. The work captures the struggle of Masi's subjects but mixes it with moments of beauty and intimate tenderness.

Masi's work investigates critical socio-environmental issues and human rights abuses in countries such as India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq. He has devoted his attention to exposing stories of human-made injustice, focusing mainly on children, their living conditions, their health and their human rights.

Masi believes documentary photography should to be an active catalyst in promoting awareness and political change and inspiring action by individuals, NGOs and governmental bodies. He strives to portray his subjects with intimacy and meaning. He aspires to convey emotions, to present images that stimulate our deeper and most innate feelings, our sense of empathy, justice, respect and brotherhood.

FotoEvidence is a publishing platform for documentary photographers whose work focuses on social justice and violations of human rights. Founded in 2010 by Svetlana Bachevanova, a long-time photojournalist, FotoEvidence continues the tradition of using photography to draw attention to assaults on human dignity wherever they may occur.

Every year the FotoEvidence Book Award recognizes a photographer, whose project documents evidence of social injustice, with the publication of a hard copy book. In addition FotoEvidence will publish 10 photo books for the iPad this year.

Finalists Include:

• Maxim Dondyuk: Tuburculosis Epidemic in Ukraine
• Michelle Frankfurter: Destino, Central American Migrants
• Vlad Sokhin: Crying Meri, Rape in Papua New Guinea
• Lisa Wiltse: Charcoal Kids of Ulingan, Manila, Philippines