World Press Photo 2002

Arts singles 3rd Prize:
Fernando Marcos Ibañez, Spain,
for Compañía Nacional de DanzaEmmanuelle Bronein rehearses “White Darkness”, a choreography by Nacho Duato, at Teatro de la Zarzuela, Madrid

World Press Photo of the Year 2001:
Erik Refner, Denmark, for Berlingske TidendeThe body of a one-year old Afghan boy who died of dehydration is prepared for burial at Jalozai refugee camp, Pakistan, June

General News stories 2nd Prize:
Tom Stoddart, UK, IPG, The earthquake of Gujarat, India, February

Portraits stories 1st Prize:
Tim Hetherington, UK, Network PhotographersStudents of Milton Margai, the only school for the blind in Sierra Leone

Nature and the Environment singles 3rd Prize: Viviane Moos Holbrooke, USA, Sipa Press Fingerprinting a baby orangutan at a rehabilitation center, Indonesia

Sports stories 2nd Prize:
Craig Golding, Australia, Sydney Morning HeraldSurf lifesavers in competition, Maroubra beach, Australia

General News singles 1st Prize:
Carlos Barria Moraga, Argentina, La NacionA Plaza de Mayo mother shields her eyes from tear gas during a protest, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 20 December

Sports 1st Prize:
Fred Vuich, USA, Sports Illustrated
Tiger Woods tees off at the 18th hole at the Masters tournament, Georgia, USA

Arts stories 2nd Prize:
Shobha, Italy, Agenzia Contrasto/Focus, Stilt walkers at Dakar international fashion festival and carnival

WORLD PRESS PHOTO CONTEST 2002

World Press Photo is the most prestigious annual press photography contest in the world. This year it attracted 49,235 entries from 4,171 photographers from 123 countries worldwide. An exhibition of over 200 of the award-winning photographs opens at the Royal Festival Hall in London, sponsored by Canon and TIME Magazine, on 13 September. The exhibition is being shown in over 70 venues in 35 countries around the world.

Each year, an independent international jury, consisting of nine members, judges entries in nine different categories including Spot News, General News, People in the News, Sports, Science and Technology, The Arts, Nature and the Environment, as well as Portraits and Daily Life.

This year’s exhibition provides a powerful snapshot of world events during 2001, from the refugee camps in Pakistan to the twisted towers of the World Trade Center in New York and the battered streets of Ramallah in the Middle East.

The overall winning entry is by Danish photographer, Erik Refner. Taken in a refugee camp in Pakistan, the picture shows the body of a one-year-old boy being washed and wrapped in a white cloth in preparation for burial. The child's family, originally from North Afghanistan, had sought refuge from the political situation and the consequences of the drought in their country. Of the winner Roger Hutchings, Chairman of the Jury, writes: “…the picture he made reached out to us. It is simple, iconic and symbolic…It points towards matters which need to be addressed and, with the benefit of hindsight, it reproaches us for having ignored Afghanistan since the end of the Cold War. It also reminds us what a photographer is.”The winning photograph in the World Press Photo Children's Award, selected by an international panel of children, is by the Norwegian photographer, Aleksander Nordahl. It is of a young girl from Afghanistan smiling broadly at the camera, whilst her older sisters, who are wearing veils, hide behind a doorway.

British award winner, Jeff Mitchell, gained first prize for Stories in the Nature and Environment category, for his shocking images of cows, sheep and pigs slaughtered across the British Isles during the foot and mouth outbreak last year. Other British winners include Andrew Testa, who won first prize in the Daily Life Stories category with his photographs of Serbs and Romas travelling on heavily guarded trains through Albanian-dominated parts of Kosovo. In the General News stories category, Tom Stoddart’s won second prize for his coverage of the earthquake that struck Gujarat, Western India, which left one million people homeless and 30,000 dead.

World Press Photo is organised by The World Press Photo Foundation, which serves as a platform for international photojournalism, to stimulate and promote worldwide interest in press photography. It is sponsored worldwide by Canon, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and Kodak Professional, a division of Eastman Kodak Company.

All prize-winning entries are included in the yearbook, World Press Photo 2002.
Published by Thames and Hudson price £12.95

Royal Festival Hall
Level 2, Main Foyer
on the South Bank, London SE1
Opening hours: 10.00 am – 10.30 pm daily. Admission free
13 September – 13 October 2002

www.worldpressphoto.nl

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