World Press Photo 2017 WINNERS For over 60 years, World Press Photo has been recognising and honouring the work of photojournalists with its prestigious awards. This year, Photography News had a front row seat for the gala celebration World Press Photo 20 Photography News | Issue 55 | photographynews.co.uk
Words by Will Cheung
Photographers risk their lives every day bringing the world’s attention to tragedy, human suffering and environmental issues. Achieving global acknowledgment for their work was the motivation for four Dutch photographers to start an international contest in 1955. Its winners over the years have included many iconic, unforgettable, history defining pictures. In 1973 Nick Ut won with his picture of Phan Thi Kim Phuc fleeing from a napalm bombing and in 1964 Don McCullin won with his image of a Turkish woman mourning her dead husband. From a few hundred entries it has grown and grown and the World Press Photo last year received 73,044 images taken by 4548 photojournalists from 125 countries. There are various subject categories but there is just one World Press Photo Award winner. This year the five finalist photographers were invited to the awards ceremony in Amsterdam unaware of the result until the big
reveal at the end of the night. The six shortlisted images are shown on these pages. Lars Boering is the managing director of the World Press Photo Foundation. “I was very happy with all six shortlisted pictures and each of them is a conversation starter,” he says. “I think thewinner (Venezuela Crisis by Ronaldo Schemidt) is really impressive and powerful. Of course, there is a human being in there and we are happy he is still alive but the photograph does shine a light on a topic in Venezuela. “I’m not involved in the judging and I sit there and watch the jury working, sometimes in agony, sometimes in joy. This is a wonderful system and the jury has its role. It is interesting to see the aggregate of content but I don’t interfere. I am there if the jury has a problem or needs a rule clarifying.” “The level of work again was very high this year, and that includes all the work you don’t see. All I can do once the jury has made its decision is create events like
this exhibition that really reach an audience and tell these stories to a larger crowd. I think that is why World Press Photo is growing, and I am very proud of that.” You can see the winning pictures on the World Press Photo website, worldpressphoto.org, while exhibitions are on right now with
venue details again on the website. The only UK venue is the Scottish Parliament, Edinburgh, 1 to 25 August. Definitely worth a visit – perhaps combine it with some photography at the city’s world renowned Festival Fringe which is on around the same time.
IMAGE Not every winningWorld Press Photo image lives long in the memory, but many do and over time attain era-defining status.
Be inspired
Copies of the World Press Photo 2018 Yearbook cost €25 plus postage from the web address below. Within its 240 glossy colour pages you will see 178 prize-winning images from 42 photographers from 22 countries.
IMAGE Lars Boering (left), managing director of theWorld Press Photo Foundation, and Lee Bonniface, marketing director of Canon Europe, at the official opening of this year’sWorld Press Photo exhibition in Amsterdam.
worldpressphoto.org
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