Image © Beso Uznadze.

Beso Uznadze has won this year's BJP International Photography Award portrait category for his portraits of Georgians at home and in London.

The judges – gallerist Zelda Cheatle, Magnum Photos member Chris Steele-Perkins and publisher Dewi Lewis – selected the images from several hundred entries. Uznadze, a Georgian photographer who moved to London eight years ago, wins a Canon 5D digital SLR and will see his images printed by Spectrum Photographic and exhibited at the Association of Photographers' Gallery in November from 25-29 November.
'I wanted to document the everyday life of Georgians,' Uznadze told BJP. 'What is this little state? Is it a modern democracy or a struggling ex-Soviet state? What the lives, hopes and ambitions of its people? Why do they look to the West, and what do they expect from it? I'm going through these changes as well and I feel like I'm looking through the past having left the country eight years ago.'
Uznadze's project started in 2007, but took on another dimension when the war with Russia broke out in August. 'When the war started all you saw were images of tanks and destruction in the media,' he says. 'My images are of real Georgians living their lives.' Uznadze believes his work will also change in future because of the conflict. 'My project might become more dramatic. I think [you will be able to see the impact of the war on my subjects' faces]. My mom got a lot older after only one week. People were literally dying of heart attacks because of the war.'
Uznadze hopes to see his work published in a book in the near future. However, he says that this project might never be completed. 'It could be a life project.'

To sign up for email updates on the 2009 contest, mail photographyaward@bjphoto.co.uk