World Press Photo Exhibition Delivers on Drama and Emotion
By turns touching, horrifying and enchanting, the photos at
Loft Project Etagi bring the world closer one image at a time.
http://www.sptimes.ru/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=37954
The World Press Photo exhibition, displaying work by the
winners of one of the most important photojournalism contests in the world,
opened at Loft Project Etagi on Aug. 30.
The main prize this
year was won by Swedish photographer Paul Hansen. Chosen from more than 103,000
works, Hansen’s photo tells the story of one family’s tragedy in Gaza by showing the
funeral procession for three family members who were killed during a bombing
raid on the region. With its dramatic foreshortening, the image transmits the
raw emotion of the scene.
“The picture that
wins the top prize has to show a major news theme of the past year and be shot
in an extraordinary way,” said Tessa Hetharia, project manager of World Press
Photo exhibition, speaking to The St. Petersburg Times. “And this is the photo
that the jury said expressed it best.”
“Paul Hansen’s World
Press Photo of the Year is a powerful and direct image of Gaza that functions on multiple levels. It
reaches your head, your heart and your stomach — all the keys to effective
photojournalism,” wrote chairman of the 2013 Jury Santiago Lyon.
The contest is judged
by leading photographers and experts in the field of photojournalism.
“We are very aware of
the independence of those judging the photos,” said Hetharia. And every year
the jury for the contest changes.
“We make sure that
people from around the world, from different cultures, and with different ideas
of visual language as well as different sides of the photography field, are all
represented,” she said.
“What the jury is
looking for is a brave photograph. In the news category, informational values
are also important,” she added.
The approach that
some of the photographers take to the images of Syria
and Gaza,
however, are not necessarily objective. Addressing this, Hetharia quoted the
winner of the contest, Paul Hansen, who said, “My photo is not about politics,
but about the lack of politics.”
One of the seemingly
least challenging pictures in the exhibition is the winner in the Nature
category: “Emperor Penguins” by Paul Nicklen. Scratch the surface, however, and
viewers soon discover that what appears to be the joyful cavorting of the birds
actually demonstrates a recently discovered fact; when Emperor penguins are
frightened, they jump out of the water to churn up the water as a way of
confusing their enemy.
Many of the photographs in the exhibition address polarizing
social issues. A series by young Vietnamese photographer Maika Elan called “The
Pink Choice” tells the story of same-sex couples in a society (much like
Russia) that is not very open in its discussion of the issue. For these
photographs, Elan won first prize in the Contemporary Issues category.
“We haven’t had any
problems showing these photos in Russia. This project is all about
press freedom and if a local host wants to display the exhibition they have to
take it in its entirety, there cannot be any censorship,” said Hetharia.
As it is a traveling
exhibition, different issues are considered challenging in different cultural
contexts. “In Canada, for
instance, they are very apprehensive about seeing any blood; in Indonesia we
will not show the exhibition this year because of the nudity the exhibition
contains.”
The only Russian
photographer represented on the exhibition is Sergei Ilnitsky, who won the 2nd
prize in the Sport Action category with a story about fencing at the London
2012 Olympics.
This year marks the fourth time that the World Press Photo
exhibition has been held in St.
Petersburg. The contest itself has already been held
56 times and always sets standards in the field of photojournalism. Every
February, two prizes are awarded in each of nine categories for the best single
photo and the best photo story in Amsterdam,
where World Press Photo — an independent, nonprofit organization — is
headquartered. After that, the traveling exhibition visits major cities around
the world.
“What we want to do
is to support the professional photography industry. The winners are picked and
put in this traveling exhibition just to provide a platform for the industry,”
said Hetharia.