PHOTONEWS
THE WORLD PRESS PHOTO EXHIBITION 2007
INTERNATIONAL PHOTOJOURNALISM CONTEST WINNERS
Dates and venues:
St.Petersburg, Peter and Paul's Fortress, Atrium (Aug 24 – Sept 8, 2007)
Moscow, Winzavod Contemporary Art Centre (Sept 13 – 30, 2007)
World Press Photo of the Year 2006
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Young Lebanese drive down a a bombed neighborhood in southern Beirut, Lebanon, on August 15.
The international jury of the 50th annual World Press Photo Contest selected a color image of the US photographer Spencer Platt of Getty Images as World Press Photo of the Year 2006. The picture shows a group of young Lebanese driving through a South Beirut neighborhood devastated by Israeli bombings. The picture was taken on 15 August 2006, the first day of the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah when thousands of Lebanese started returning to their homes.
World Press Photo jury chair Michele McNally describes the winning image: "It's a picture you can keep looking at. It has the complexity and contradiction of real life, amidst chaos. This photograph makes you look beyond the obvious."
World Press Photo Foundation is run as an independent, non-profit organization with its office in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, where World Press Photo was founded in 1955.
The foundation is a unique platform for independent photojournalism and free exchange of information - organizing the contest, exhibitions and educational program.
The annual World Press Photo contest is at the core of the organization's activities. It offers an overview of how press photographers tackle their work worldwide and how the press gives us the news, bringing together pictures from all parts of the globe to reflect trends and developments in photojournalism.
This year 4,460 professional photographers from 124 countries entered 78,083 images in the most prestigious annual international competition in press photography. The judging sessions took place in Amsterdam from 27 January to 8 February. The jury gave prizes in 10 theme categories to 58 photographers of 23 nationalities from: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Palestinian Territories, People's Republic of China, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom and the USA.
Spencer Platt, the author of the World Press Photo of the Year 2006, will receive his award and a cash prize of 10,000 euro at the awards ceremony in the Oude Kerk, Amsterdam, on Sunday 22 April 2007.
The contest winners gallery:
http://www.worldpressphoto.com/index.php?option=com_photogallery&task=view&id=823&Itemid=146&bandwidth=low2high
Events
• The exhibition includes over 200 photographs of all the prizewinners in World Press Photo, the most prestigious photojournalism contest, that has been held for 50 years in Amsterdam. Exhibition reflects upon the most important world events of 2006.
• Press conference
• Reception
Unique opportunity
World Press Photo exhibition is shown in 30 countries yearly from the Netherlands to Bangladesh and goes to more than 85 cities. The exhibition was shown in Russia latest – in St.Petersburg in 2006 and Moscow in 1999.
The exhibition consists of the award-winning images of the most prestigious annual press photography contest in the world, and is considered to set the standard in its field. The collection travels each year around the world, and each year there is a limited number of opportunities for new sponsors and exhibition venues to become part of the tour.
World Press Photo attracts a significantly wider range of visitors than traditional art and photography exhibitions. Due to the subject matter of the exhibition - recent news events in world history, highlights in sports, scenes of daily life etc. - the public will be able to recognize many of the moments and situations forming the content of the exhibition, and at the same time it is offered a striking visual experience. School classes are regular visitors to the exhibition, as teachers recognize the value of the unique picture material as a stimulating complement to their current events and visual education curriculum. The international success of the World Press Photo exhibition program illustrates the power of photography in communication across political and cultural barriers.
Audience
In its activities World Press Photo identifies two main audiences: the photojournalistic community (in the widest sense, including not only photographers, but also picture editors at newspapers and magazines, picture agencies etc.), and the general public. Certain World Press Photo activities are created specifically for the professionals, but the exhibition program very successfully combines the interests of both groups, attracting a wide response from all.
Exhibition partners
World Press Photo Foundation’s corporate sponsors are Canon and TNT.
The official partner of the World Press Photo exhibition in Russia is Objective Reality Foundation.
Contact information:
Irena Evert
Tel.: +7 (921) 952 5009
evertir@yandex.ru
Liza Faktor
General Director
Objective Reality Foundation
liza@photographer.ru
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