World Press Photo

World Press Photo

19 September - 11 October 2015

The Academy Galleries are showing the World Press Photo exhibition, brought to New Zealand by the NetherlanNZ Foundation.

Open daily from 10 am, with a last entry at 4.30 pm..

Admission charges apply.

In a year when nearly 300 Nigerian schoolgirls were kidnapped by Islamic militants Boko Haram, Ebola was rife in Africa and Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 crashed in the Ukraine, an intimate moment between gay lovers in St Petersburg, Russia, was judged as the best image of 2014.

Jon and Alex posed for winning photographer Mads Nissen for the Danish newspaper Politiken. His work was chosen from 97,912 entries from 131 countries to take out the title as the World Press Photo of The Year 2014, in addition to winning first prize in the Contemporary Issues category. The competition has now been transformed into more than 100 travelling exhibitions and has its New Zealand premiere in Auckland. This is the sixth consecutive year that the Rotary Club of Auckland has brought the exhibition to New Zealand.

Rotary Club of Auckland President Craig Horrocks is proud that his club continues to host this high-calibre showcase.

“The collection brings the world to New Zealand, and that is why our Rotary club is proud to be involved, because it showcases so much of what we believe in and work towards,” Horrocks says.

“That an image of a gay couple is so culturally significant seems incongruous in a country where we have sexual equality. It’s just one example of the powerful, thought-provoking images in the exhibition that remind us just how peace relies on acceptance of diversity as a cultural value. New Zealand is fortunate in that our geographical isolation has protected us and tolerance is still a feature of our society.”

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