TORONTO-25 April 2010-(winnipegfreepress.com)- "HIS SHOTS WERE DISPLAYED IN THE FORGOTTEN DISEASE, A SIX-PART SERIES LAST NOVEMBER WHICH DESCRIBED THE PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL TOLL TUBERCULOSIS HAD AND CONTINUES TO HAVE ON FIRST NATIONS COMMUNITIES IN MANITOBA"

Free Press photographer Wayne Glowacki was honoured Saturday night (24 April 2010) for his exceptional visual work in a Free Press series on tuberculosis.

Glowacki won the national Photo of the Year award in the social issues category at the 2009 National Pictures of the Year Awards in Toronto. His shots were displayed in The Forgotten Disease, a six-part series last November which described the physical and emotional toll tuberculosis had and continues to have on First Nations communities in Manitoba.

"To be judged by your peers and to win an award like this, it's a fantastic feeling," Glowacki said Saturday night. "Travelling up north and meeting the people there, and now this, I'm really honoured to have been a part of the whole experience."

Glowacki admitted he was completely caught off guard when his name was announced, but news of the award did not come as a shock to those back in Winnipeg.

"Wayne is an exceptional feature photographer," said Free Press editor Margo Goodhand. "His gentle approach always puts his subjects at ease, and he has a great eye for composition. We're so proud of him, winning this award. It's well-deserved."

Glowacki's winning entry is a poignant shot of Lac Brochet's Catherine Moise, sitting in the cemetery where her daughter Agnes is buried.

Diagnosed with tuberculosis in 1964, Moise was taken from her newborn daughter and placed in a sanitarium. Agnes died of tuberculosis a short while later and for 45 years following her death, Moise never knew where her daughter had been laid to rest. Last summer Moise discovered the run-down burial site.

Jen Skerritt, the Free Press reporter who worked alongside Glowacki and photographer Ken Gigliotti on The Forgotten Disease, was elated to see Glowacki recognized.

"Wayne is an amazing photographer," offered Skerritt, whose own work on the series has earned her two national awards. "His patience and sensitivity to the subject matter never waned, and he never complained about the effort it took to get some photos, including crawling into a sub-basement black with rot and mould.

"The day Wayne shot Catherine's journey to the cemetery, his camera and his neck were covered in a cloud of bloodsucking flies," she said. "He still managed to get a shot that truly shows how much suffering TB has inflicted in northern First Nations. It was awesome work and I am so happy he has been recognized."

Online at: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/free-press-photographer-captures-national-award-92036899.html

---------