2014 World Press Photo Exhibition Makes U.S. Debut at Drexel
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Two victims embracing amid the rubble of the garment factory collapse in Bangladesh. A man climbing over barricades in Boston to reach victims in the marathon bombing. Syrian rebel fighters taking cover amid flying debris and shrapnel in Damascus. A mother and her children hiding as gunmen open fire on Nairobi’s Westgate mall.
These powerful scenes and others will be on display as part of an exhibition of 143 of the prize-winning photos from the 57th Annual World Press Photo competition, the world’s largest and most prestigious annual international press photography contest, which makes its United States debut at Drexel University.
The exhibition, which opens in Amsterdam’s De Nieuwe Kerk on April 18, will visit approximately 100 cities in 45 countries.
The photos will be on display from Wednesday, April 30 – Wednesday, May 21, in the URBN Center Annex’s Leonard Pearlstein Gallery (3401 Filbert St.) of Drexel’s Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design. The gallery is free and open to the public, Tuesdays through Sundays from 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.
An opening reception, also free and open to the public, will be held on Wednesday, April 30 at 6 p.m., and will include remarks from Gary Knight, chairman of this year’s jury and co-founding photographer of VII Photo Agency; Boston Globe photographer John Tlumacki, 2014 World Press winner in the “Spot News” category for his Boston Marathon bombing coverage; and Anne Schaepman, project manager of World Press Photo. Former Philadelphia-based World Press Photo winners are expected to be at the reception.
“I think this is the most adventurous and convention challenging World Press Photo Award Exhibition that there has ever been,” said Knight, who has served on four World Press Photo juries.
The World Press Photo of the Year 2014, selected from close to 100,000 entries, is an image by American photographer John Stanmeyer on assignment for National Geographic magazine. The picture shows African migrants on the shore of Djibouti city at night, raising their phones in an attempt to capture an inexpensive signal from neighboring Somalia—a tenuous link to relatives abroad. Djibouti is a common stop-off point for migrants in transit from such countries as Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea, seeking a better life in Europe and the Middle East. The picture also won first prize in the "Contemporary Issues" category.
The international jury of leading photojournalism professionals gave prizes in nine themed categories to 53 photographers of 25 nationalities from: Argentina, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bulgaria, China, Czech Republic, El Salvador, Finland, France, Germany, Iran, Italy, Jordan, Mexico, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Russia, Serbia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Click on the photos below for photo credit and description:
The members of the jury announced the winners at a press conference held at the World Press Photo offices in Amsterdam on Feb. 14. For an overview of all the winners, visit: http://www.worldpressphoto.org/awards/2014
The judging was conducted at the World Press Photo office in Amsterdam. All entries were presented anonymously to the jury, who discussed their merits over a two-week period. The jury operates independently and a secretary without voting rights safeguards the fairness of the procedure. The contest drew entries from professional press photographers, photojournalists and documentary photographers across the world. By the mid-January deadline, 98,671 images had been submitted by 5,754 photographers from 132 countries.
“We are thrilled to bring this extraordinary exhibition of the world’s outstanding photojournalism to Drexel,” said Karen Curry, executive director of the Rudman Institute. “It’s fitting that Philadelphia, so crucial to the history of journalism in this country, will be host to this stunning show.”
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The exhibit is made possible through the generous support of Drexel University’s Kal and Lucille Rudman Institute for Entertainment Industry Studies in the Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design and the Good Idea Fund. World Press Photo receives support from the Dutch Postcode Lottery and is sponsored worldwide by Canon.
About World Press Photo
World Press Photo organizes the leading international contest in visual journalism. The foundation is committed to supporting and advancing high standards in photojournalism and documentary storytelling worldwide. Its aim is to generate wide public interest in and appreciation for the work of photographers and other visual journalists, and for the free exchange of information. The activities include organizing annual photojournalism and multimedia contests and global exhibition tours. The Academy programs strive to stimulate high-quality visual journalism through educational programs, grants and by creating greater visibility through a variety of publications. World Press Photo is an independent, non-profit organization with its office in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, where it was founded in 1955.