A mysterious French artist who transforms some of the world's most downtrodden
slums with his haunting large-scale photographs has won a $100,000 humanitarian
award for his work.
Past winners of the TED prize -- which is named after a California lecture
series that focuses on technology, entertainment and design -- include Bono and
Bill Clinton. Recipients make a "wish" for a philanthropic project they'd like
to head up, and outside donations then come pouring in.
The 27-year-old Parisian, called only JR to protect his anonymity, photographs
faces of people who live in poverty and then blows up the images and pastes
them on rooftops or walls. His tactics are not always strictly legal: He was
arrested and then released in China earlier this week for posting one of his
photos.
JR told the New York Times he was "stunned" that he'd been selected and doesn't
know what philanthropic project he will now launch.
"I go to local communities, forgotten communities or antagonistic communities,
and try to energize them and bring them together and make them think, through
the medium of art. I would want my 'wish' to be something like that, but on a
global scale," JR told the U.K. Independent.