Breaking Barriers
Harshabardhan B. has won our competition to mark the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Our picture gallery shows you just how creative the responses were to our "Breaking Barriers" theme.
Harshabardhan, India
"This picture of my son and his mother during a visit to the archeological site in Nalanda captures a unique moment of pure ecstasy inspired by the ancient location. Nalanda, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, has a history going back to the 5th and 6th century BC, the days of Mahavira and Buddha. It was only exposed by the Archaeological Survey of India excavations in 1915-37 and 1974-82."
Cheryl Yuerong, Singapore
"With unity in a bleak world without hope, barriers can be broken and overcome. This unity is depicted in color by the faces and arms of the people in the photo; and a world without hope is depicted in the grey background. I am the person in the middle of the photo reaching my hand up to get help."
Olga, Russia
"This picture was taken in a school in Tver, where I teach German. My students find German grammar particularly difficult, but they are prepared break all barriers to gain knowledge. The girl on the picture is not scared of any difficulties. Like Superman she negotiates the wall of grammatical building blocks."
Werner, Canada
"I took this picture on the 14 August 1961 while on holiday in Berlin. During that vacation I became engaged to a woman in Berlin, and a year later I married her, also in Berlin. After we got married we moved to Canada."
Deb, USA
"I often visit this nearby Arcadia Park, Kalamazoo, Michigan, where a diverse group of people gather to enjoy the green space within our city. These two little guys were just having the best time on the kids' playground. They were very proud to be friends and have their photo taken. They were both 'supermen' that day."
Camilo Andrés, Colombia
"This picture is called esperanza, or hope in English. Bogotá just a few years ago was a grey and drab town, where any form of street art was prohibited. But since that ban has been lifted, urban artists have made this place colorful. Walls in Bogotá are no longer grey and boring; they are mirrors to the imagination."
Fernanda, Brazil
"This photo shows a wall of flowers at the Joinville Festival of Flowers in Brazil. Joinville is a city in southern Brazil that still maintains cultural traditions brought by German immigrants in the nineteenth century, like the beautiful art of cultivating flowers. And the photo represents what I believe: the best way to overcome obstacles is by planting walls of good things!"
Sadik, Ghana
"The Berlin wall was overcome 25 years ago, by the collective efforts of West and East Germany, with the assistance of the rest of the world. Ebola is a barrier that can be overcome not only by the affected countries but with the assistance of the rest of the world. Ebola is a threat to human existence."