Evacuation: Indonesian rescue workers carry the body of a victim of the Mt. Merapi eruptions in Argomulyo, Centra Java, on Nov. 15, 2010. This picture was one of 12 taken by noted Indonesian photographer Kemal Jufri who won second prize in the 2010 World Press Photo Contest in the People in the News Stories category. Courtesy of Kemal JufriThe annual World Press Photo exhibition must be the most recognizable of the World Press Photo’s activities and has been a leading event on its calendar since the independent, nonprofit organization was founded in Amsterdam in 1955.
It is awaited by many eager photojournalists and their agencies striving to achieve fame, if only because the prize winning images taken the previous year, go on tour after the exhibition opens in Amsterdam in April the following year.
The tour program includes almost 100 cities within 45 countries before ending in March the following year.
In Paris, famous fashion designer Azzedine Alaia runs an elegant glass-roofed gallery on his vast premises in the Marais district, ideal for photo or art shows, including the World Press Photo exhibition, which opened on May 30 this year.
Most of those photos displayed by World Press Photo hit the viewer’s sensibility with a brutal impact,
belying the care taken by the photo reporters with attention to detail, composition, available light and
colors, beside emotional and newsworthy content.
These are the selection of photos which riveted the complete attention of the nine experienced jury members presided by American David Burnett in Amsterdam.
In the words of the organization’s foundation, which is under the patronage of Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands, World Press Photo is a showcase for creativity in photojournalism and a platform for developments in the profession, besides providing an eyewitness record of world events from the previous year.
A yearbook presenting all the prize-winning entries is published each year in six languages.
Funding is provided by two corporate sponsors worldwide, Canon and TNT. World Press photo also receives support, from Dutch Postcode Lottery, a mélange, which is supposed to guarantee the organization’s independence.
This year’s show again mainly mirrored the violent and tragic events that occurred in various parts of the globe and were captured by the media.
Afghanistan, Haiti, Pakistan, Indonesia and Somalia were some places where natural disasters were captured, while other photos showed violence in Bangkok or a street scene from desperately over-crowded mega-cities such as Jakarta or Mumbai.
Respite from this violence was offered by one or two fashion photos, interspersed with sports or cultural images, often taken in incongruous places, or with splendid skies and landscapes.
Rural images of people in Ireland contrast with the surrealist take on Julian Assange, founder of Wiki-leaks, by Seamus Murphy.
Last year a record 108,059 images by 5,691 participating photographers from 125 nations were submitted to the close scrutiny of the competition’s jury.
On the whole, it was not a mood-lifting choice of images by the winning 54 photographers in nine competition categories from 23 different countries, despite viewers at the opening seemingly far-removed from world misery in a bubble of an elegant setting, where champagne and sparkling water were offered to guests, such as 93-year-old picture editor John Morris or seasoned Swiss photojournalist Michael von Graffenreid, by black-clad waiters.
Kemal Jufri from Indonesia, represented by Panos Pictures/Polaris, and Christophe Archambault from France (AFP), both documented violent eruptions in Indonesia.
The first was of the Mount Merapi volcano late last year, while the latter caught the results of Mt Bromo in East Java exploding. They were respectively second and third in different categories.
The most subtle, yet underlying brutal image displayed was one selected as the World Press Photo in the 54th contest. Taken by South African woman photojournalist Jodi Bieber, the portrait is of 18-year-old Bibi Aisha disfigured after attempting to flee her husband’s house in Afghanistan.
It also won first prize in the category portraits. The teenager had been taken at the age of 12 into the household of a Taliban family.
Even without a nose or ears, hidden by soft flowing hair, Bibi Aisha seems vulnerable, young and pretty. The shot was taken for Time magazine and was the cover image of the 9th August 2010 edition.
Jury member German Ruth Eichhorn of Geo focused on this portrait: “It is an unbelievably strong image, which sends an extremely powerful message to a world where nearly 50 percent of the population are women, many of who still live in miserable conditions and suffer from violence. This photo is so strong because the woman has such a dignified and emblematic air.”
It also took guts, for instance from other photographers who either documented barely clothed bodies being thrown into trucks on Haiti after the island shook violently, or naked bodies being thrown into a large excavation by red-robed monks in the Tibetan province of China after another earthquake high in the Himalayas.
What is missing is the stench or perfume, and excitement of all these venues, seldom peaceful, mostly agitated, whereas the visual expression of these moments, neatly framed, strike us here in a completely different way in Paris, or wherever the images are seen.
Special mention was accorded to a series of 12 photographs taken by trapped miners in Chile who spent 69 days, 700 meters underground before being freed on Oct. 13 last year.
It comes as no surprise that the World Press Photo is also deeply concerned with stimulating developments in photojournalism and encouraging transfer of knowledge.
Beside the annual Joop Swart Masterclass, seminars, workshops and other educational projects worldwide are organized for aspiring photojournalists and those concerned with professions surrounding photographic media. Aspiring young Indonesian photo reporters could also profit from the organization’s educational projects.
The show is worth seeing when it comes to Asia.
World Press Photo Exhibition
Australia
Until June 26
Brisbane Powerhouse
119 Lamington Street
Brisbane
Japan
Until August 7
Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography
1-13-3 Mita Meguro-ku
Tokyo
South Korea
From July 29 to August 28
Seoul Arts Center
2406 Nambu Soonwhan-ro,
Seocho-gu
Seoul
More online:
http://www.worldpressphoto.org/
