World Press Photo Exhibition Set to Move Wellington

Media Release
For immediate release

Thursday 1 August 2013

World Press Photo Exhibition Set to Move Wellington

Wellington’s turn to be moved, inspired, horrified and impressed by some of the world’s top press photos has arrived.

From the tragedy of a group of men carrying the bodies of two dead children through a street in Gaza City, to a Kenyan woman sitting in one of Africa’s biggest rubbish dumps enjoying a book, to the wonderment of penguins swimming beneath the aquamarine Ross Sea, Antarctica, the World Press Photo Exhibition tells a range of remarkable stories from around the world.

In its 56th year, the exhibition is the result of a worldwide annual contest in press photography that aims to recognise outstanding visual storytelling and contains about 150 stunning photographs. It is organised by World Press Photo, based in The Netherlands and judged by an independent, international jury of 19 members with images across nine categories and entries from 5,666 photographers.

Visiting Wellington for the 11th time and opening Saturday 3 August, this year’s exhibition is hosted by the New Zealand Netherlands Foundation.

Chairman of the Foundation, Theo Muller says it is a privilege for the Foundation to support such an important event.

“This exhibition truly demonstrates the vastness of the world and the triumph and tragedy of both daily and extraordinary life,” Mr Muller says. “But it also shows how the access we now have to stories from around the world through such startling journalism actually brings us closer together.

“Organisations like ours exist to provide links across nations in the same way these images do so we are very proud to be a part of it.”

This year the winner was Swedish Photographer Paul Hansen who photographed the bodies of two children being carried through Gaza City while their father’s body is carried behind on a stretcher following a missile strike that also put their mother in intensive care.

One jury member, Mayu Mohanna from Peru said of the winning picture, “The strength of the picture lies in a way it contrasts the anger and sorrow of the adults with the innocence of the children. It is a picture I will not forget.”

The exhibition is shown at over 100 venues all around the world and is carefully put together in each venue by a trained curator from World Press Photo. Curator for the Wellington exhibition is Tessa Hetharia who will also curate the exhibition in 20 other countries from St Petersburg to Budapest to Croatia and Malaysia.

She says her job is to make sure the exhibition makes sense.

“The variety of photos is such that we must make sure the photos flow and each can tell the story they are supposed to tell,” Ms Hetharia says. “It’s important there are no unlucky placements that distract from eachother. For example, a hard-core news story next to an intimate photo of daily life.”

World Press Photo also retains a fantastic archive which comprises some 10,000 images over 50 years.

“Our archive of winning photos is not only a record of more than half a century of human history, but a showcase of successive styles in photography and reportage,” says Ms Hetharia.

This year, World Press Photo is offering a free mobile exhibition guide application that is available for both iOS and Android smartphones that will enhance visitors’ experiences of the exhibition by allowing them to listen to captions, read photographer biographies, learn about the equipment used and more. After the visit, they can view their favourite photos and continue the experience online. It can be downloaded from the World Press Photo website http://www.worldpressphoto.org/app

There is also an educational package for students aged between 13 and 17 comprising a guide for teachers in preparation for the visit and a workbook for the students which can also be downloaded free.

The World Press Photo Exhibition is being hosted in Wellington by The New Zealand Netherlands Foundation and is supported by world sponsors Netherland Lottery Commission and Canon, along with local principal sponsor The Dominion Post and key sponsors Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Spicers, and the Wellington City Council.

ENDS

© Scoop Media