Edna Manley College Student Wins Photo Category of JIS Heritage Competition

Doubts about entering the 2024 Jamaica Information Service (JIS) Heritage Competition turned into triumph for 24-year-old Jordanne Roache, winner of the Photo Category.

She recalled that a friend sent the competition flyer to her and encouraged her to make a submission.

Jordanne said she was very hesitant about entering, but decided to give it a chance.

“I didn’t think that I would win. I’ve always assumed that I wouldn’t be chosen, or my work is not top tier enough to get to the finals, but here we are,” she told JIS News.

A student of Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts in Kingston, Jordanne is pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts, with a major in photography and a minor in visual communication.

This year’s competition was held under the theme: ‘Out of Many, One People’.

Just over 200 entries were submitted from students across the island – 155 essays, 41 posters and six photographs.

“Instead of having the cliché idea of having multiple persons from different races come together to take one photo, I wanted to get all those races and put them on her. The image is of a warm nature and it has a graphic element. On her, you can actually see the African tribal markings, the Rastafarian band, the Indian piercings and Chinese paintings and the African bantu knots. I also wasn’t able to capture every single element on her, so around the image you can see ‘Out of Many, One People’ in many different languages,” she explained of the creative vision behind her winning piece.

Jordanne shared that she has a deep appreciation for Jamaica’s culture and incorporates it in her work as a student.

“For this past semester, for all of my assignments I actually used the theme ‘My culture, my roots’. I had a fine arts assignment that I needed to complete, and I had no idea what to do. Upon finishing the photo for the JIS Competition on the 31st of October, I was inspired to finish the rest of my work and it allowed me to pay deeper attention to the core aspects of my culture and to really focus on the colours,” she said.

Jordanne is elated that she won, admitting that she is still in disbelief.

“I’m very proud of myself. I’m happy that I entered, and this is allowing me to really believe that this field is the one that I’m supposed to be in,” she said.

She is encouraging students not to count themselves out when competitions and other opportunities come their way.

“Even though there is the possibility that you will lose, there’s also the possibility that you will win. Just try your best and ensure that you follow the guidelines,” Jordanne said.