World Press Photo Foundation is an independent, non-profit organization based in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...
,
Netherlands
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, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
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. Founded in 1955, the organization is known for holding an annual press
photography
Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is emplo ...
contest. Since 2011, World Press Photo has organized a separate annual contest for journalistic multimedia productions, and, in association with
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human ...
, the annual Tim Hetherington Grant.
Objectives
A primary objective of the organization is to support professional photojournalism on a wide international scale through the World Press Photo Academy. It aims to stimulate developments in
photojournalism
Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (such ...
, encourage the transfer of knowledge, help develop high professional standards in visual journalism and promote a free and unrestricted exchange of information. It organizes a number of educational projects throughout the world: seminars, workshops and the annual Joop Swart Masterclass.
Award ceremony
An annual awards ceremony is held in the
Oude Kerk in Amsterdam. After the contest, the prizewinning photographs are assembled into a travelling exhibition. A yearbook presenting all prizewinning entries is published annually in six languages.
In addition to selecting the
World Press Photo of the Year, the contest determines winners in the following other categories: Spot News, General News, People, Sports, Contemporary Issues, Daily Life, Portraits and Nature.
Recent winners
New York-based photographer
Spencer Platt of
Getty Images
Getty Images Holdings, Inc. is an American visual media company and is a supplier of stock images, editorial photography, video and music for business and consumers, with a library of over 477 million assets. It targets three markets—creativ ...
won in 2006. His picture showed a group of young
Lebanese driving through a South Beirut neighborhood devastated by
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
i bombings. The picture was taken on 15 August 2006, the first day of the
ceasefire
A ceasefire (also known as a truce or armistice), also spelled cease fire (the antonym of 'open fire'), is a temporary stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions. Ceasefires may be between state ac ...
between
Israel and Hezbollah when thousands of Lebanese started returning to their homes.
In 2007, a total of 4,460 professional photographers from 124 countries entered 78,083 images in the competition. The winner was the British photographer
Tim Hetherington.
In 2008,
Anthony Suau
Anthony Suau is an American photojournalist and documentary filmmaker, based in New York City.
Life and work
Suau was born in Peoria, Illinois. He worked for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'', and ''The Denver Post'', was a contract photographer for ''Tim ...
, of USA, won the World Press Photo of the Year for the second time (the first was in 1987).
Amit Sha'al of Israel won third prize in 2011 in the category of Arts and Entertainment: Stories. During an exhibit in
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus lie ...
that year, World Press Photo was asked to remove Sha'al's photos because, according to the
General Security Directorate, Lebanon and
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
were "in a state of war." WPP refused to censor the Israeli artist and shut down the exhibit ten days ahead of schedule.
Exhibitions
In November 2017, the World Press Photo Foundation held its largest US exhibition ever, in Washington, DC's Dupont Circle's Dupont Underground art space.
Joop Swart Masterclass
Since 1994 World Press Photo has organised the Joop Swart Masterclass, where photojournalists who are considered notable are selected to mentor a group of young photographers.
References
External links
Slideshows of World Press Photo winners, 2005–the present at LensCulture
World Press Photo Winners 2005at the BBC
World Press Photo Winners 2004at the BBC
World Press Photo Exhibition in Amsterdam's Oude Kerk, May 2013(Video)
{{Authority control
Photography awards
Non-profit organisations based in the Netherlands
Organisations based in the Netherlands with royal patronage
Organisations based in Amsterdam
1955 establishments in the Netherlands
Organizations established in 1955
Photography exhibitions