Karamoja (northeast Uganda) suffers from a negative image due to decades of isolation and insecurity. But after peace has returned (2011), the perception of the region by fellow Ugandans and the international community hasn’t changed.

Discover Karamoja project is aimed at positively changing the image of Karamoja through photography.

Background

After decades of isolation and insecurity, peace has returned to the northeastern region of Uganda named Karamoja in 2011.

But one challenge was followed up with a new one, climate change and loss of cattle has caused major food insecurity for the people and has made most of the communities resort into gold mining, cutting of trees for charcoal burning, selling of land and travelling to other districts.

In March 2016 Kara-Tunga Arts & Tours started the first community tourism organisation focused on the Karamoja region, aimed at sustainable enhancement of community livelihoods through community tourism and arts. But an important challenge to overcome was the negative image of the region due the decades of insecurity.

Soon after launching, it has drawn attention from domestic and international travellers and noticed the importance and power of their activities:

• Travellers share their positive experience through photos and stories that’s drawing attention domestically and international;
• The community is actively and passionately reviving (sometimes forgotten) cultural practices;
• Communities have started saving groups and are able to invest in small crafts businesses.

All the positive results have been ignited by the efforts of positively changing the image of the region. That’s why we started amplifying our efforts by introducing the Discover Karamoja project.

Photography contribution

We are gathering the stories and photographs of exceptional friends of Karamoja that are going to make a difference by telling the true story; whether you’ve traveled through Karamoja and made stunning photos or have lived among the Karimojong people and have an experience you want to share with the world. By contributing to the Discover Karamoja Print Project, you will positively impact the image of the region and development as tourist destination to improve the livelihoods of the community.

The online project: #DiscoverKaramoja

The Discover Karamoja project is an continuous online project whereby photos and stories are collected with hashtag #DiscoverKaramoja and presented on the Discover Karamoja website and social media channels.

Visit: www.discoverkaramoja.com

The offline project: Discover Karamoja Photo Book

Besides the production of the coffee-table book, the print project also has an continuous element in the form of limited printed postcards. Content creators are able to donate a photograph that if selected will be printed and sold as postcard.

Visit: Photography submissions 

Curation

The work will be selected by the judging panel of Discover Karamoja project. Photos chosen for publication in Discover Karamoja Book and Postcards will be donated by the photographer to explicitly be published under the Discover Karamoja project