After two weeks of drawing visitors into scenes of triumph, despair, war and peace, the World Press Photo 2008 exhibit, showcasing some of the world’s best photojournalism, will come to an end next week. The exhibition closes Thursday, Feb. 5.

Billed as the world’s “largest and most prestigious” press photography contest, this year’s exhibition attracted submissions from 5,019 photographers from 125 countries. The winners, chosen by a 13-member jury of international experts, have had their work displayed in nearly 100 venues around the world. USC Annenberg and the United Nations are the exhibit’s only stops in the United States.

While most visitors to the immersive two-level installation have been content to let the photos speak for themselves, an opening reception and “Behind the Lens” talk gave nearly 250 attendees the chance to hear the stories behind the pictures from the photographers directly.

British photographer Tim Hetherington (pictured, right), whose Vanity Fair image of an exhausted U.S. soldier in Afghanistan was named World Press Photo of the Year, described his experience as an embedded journalist working with troops in a war zone. “The press doesn’t have a good reputation with the military,” he said. “It took a while to build trust. One of the soldiers told me to shut the camera off, but he later apologized and said ‘We appreciate you here.’” By the end of his assignment, Hetherington said, there was no filter between him and the soldiers, allowing him to find “the emotional side” of the military. The photos allowed him to “see the value that we don’t often see,” he said.

Other prize-winning photographers offered insight to their professional practices or the motivation behind their images. Erika Larsen, whose work for Field & Stream earned recognition in the “Sports Features – Stories” category, told how she doesn’t talk when she’s working. As she narrated a slideshow of her prize-winning work, which showed children – some as young as six-and-a-half years old – on hunting expeditions, she said she “wasn’t interested in the action of hunting,” but rather “the more reflective aspect” of the juxtaposition of life and death. David Liittschwager, winner in the “Nature Stories” category for his images of microscopic marine life, saw himself as an educator/journalist. “I make images as an educational tool,” he said. “I want to attempt to share something about the world.”

USC Annenberg is one of the final stops for this year’s exhibition. The exhibit is open Monday through Friday, 10:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m., and Saturday, January 31, from 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. On its final day, Thursday, February 5, the exhibit closes at 1:30 p.m.

World Press Photo receives support from the Dutch Postcode Lottery and is sponsored worldwide by Canon and TNT. World Press Photo 2008 at USC Annenberg is made possible with support from the Los Angeles Times.

Photos from opening reception