World Press is one of the most keenly followed awards in the photographic world. Every year a specific image is selected as the top work from photo journalists. Images are obviously always very evocative and create and evocative response from viewers.
This year is now different. The 53rd Annual World Press Photo of the Year has been awarded to Italian photographer Pietro Masturzo, for his image of women shouting from a Tehran rooftop on June 24, 2009, in protest of the contested Iranian presidential elections.
The image was selected as the winner from a pool of 101.960 entries, and already this avid follower of the award has heard statements from other World Press Photo enthusiasts along the lines of "...One hundred thousand entries, and This is what they pick?..." The image has no doubt created controversy and argument amongst audiences.
This office is no exception, all morning we have been discussing out thoughts, some like the image others simply say "I don’t get it" and some ask the question "its nice, but surely there was something better?"
Past winners have been images that are striking and emotionally charged from the first view, images that depict moments in time that make the news and sum up the situation in the subjects face, eyes, or evident motion. This years winning image is a little different, there is no in your face horror or action, no lifeless bodies held by those who care for them no shocking imagery of any kind. This image is further removed, a wider view of a building top with ghostly figures frozen in time.
Jury chair Ayperi Karabuda Ecer, vice president, pictures, for Reuters, said: “The photo shows the beginning of something, the beginning of a huge story. It adds perspectives to news. It touches you both visually and emotionally, and my heart went out to it immediately.”
The more I look as this image to more I agree with her, sure in past winning images we the general public could look at the image on a web page one morning and think, WOW! what a shot!..then continue with our morning coffee and email trash binning. Never giving a thought to what the image actually was trying to tell us.
This image is still graphically astounding, and looking at it we know something is happening, something big, something important, and although you can not see the figures faces or expressions we know that they are not happy with what is happening bellow them.
So what does this do? It forces us to ask the question, what is happening here? what is the image trying to tell us? and if the image touches you the same way it touched me you will soon find out what is happening in this image, and perhaps like me you will be intrigued so much you want to learn a bit more and understand the situation and so understand the photograph...
And there it is, the whole point to photojournalism, the reason photographers go to war torn and devastated nations to photograph them. To get people like us to understand and actually see what is going on in the world around us, to raise awareness of a situation and cause a reaction that may not change the world but perhaps just a small part of it.
Any image that does this, is a proper "Press photo"
Check out the winners gallery and winning image here
Glen.
