World Press Photo, the exhibition featuring winning images from the world’s largest and most prestigious press photography contest, returned to Los Angeles with a Jan. 14 reception at USC Annenberg. The exhibit runs through Feb. 2, but will close early the final day.
World Press Photo 07 features 200 award-winning images from the 50th annual World Press Photo competition, drawn from nearly 80,000 entries submitted by more than 4,000 photographers. USC Annenberg is one of only three U.S. locations to host the traveling exhibition. The school also was selected as a site for the past three exhibitions.
The exhibit is in the East Lobby of the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, 3502 Watt Way, Los Angeles, Calif. It is free and open to the public. Exhibit hours are Monday – Friday, 10 a.m. – 7 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. The exhibit will close at 1:30 p.m. on Feb. 2.
“The images from World Press Photo illustrate and document the year’s most important events,” says Larry Gross, director of the School of Communication and an expert in visual communication. “Through this exhibition, we have the opportunity to share these works with the greater Los Angeles community, elevating the public discourse on some of the most pressing issues of our time.”
“USC Annenberg is honored to host the World Press Photo exhibition again this year,” says Ernest J. Wilson III, USC Annenberg dean. “Photography is a powerful medium for communication. These images from around the world help inform and build understanding across geographic, political and cultural divides.”
The independent, international World Press Photo jury selected a color image by U.S. photographer Spencer Platt of Getty Images as World Press Photo of the Year. The photograph shows a group of young Lebanese people driving through a South Beirut neighborhood devastated by the Israeli bombings. The image was taken on Aug.15, 2006, the first day of the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, when thousands of Lebanese started returning to their homes.
World Press Photo jury chair Michele McNally describes the winning image: “It’s a picture you can keep looking at. It has the complexity and contradiction of real life, amidst chaos. This photograph makes you look beyond the obvious.”
Platt, along with other winning photographers, will be featured at a special event to discuss their individual photographs and their profession. Behind the Lens: Winners of World Press Photo 07 will be Thursday, January 17 at 6 p.m. in Annenberg Auditorium. A reception and book signing with the photographers follows the discussion. Behind the Lens is sponsored by Getty Images.
Interested students may participate in College and High School Photojournalism Day on Friday, January 18. The program is sponsored by the Los Angeles Times and features workshops and discussions with leading photojournalists, including Platt, documentary photographer Nina Berman, US News & World Report photographer David Butow and Los Angeles Times staff photographer Luis Sinco. For more information, visit annenberg.usc.edu/events.
“This important exhibition gives USC Annenberg a great opportunity to foster discussion about the profession and craft of photojournalism, as well as how we cover the events of our times,” says Michael Parks, director of the School of Journalism.
The main overall prize is awarded for the single photograph that is not only the photojournalistic encapsulation of the year, but represents an issue, situation or event of great journalistic importance, and does so in a way that demonstrates an outstanding level of visual perception and creativity. Other categories are spot news, general news, people in the news, sports action, sports feature, contemporary issues, daily life, portraits, arts and entertainment, and nature.
The exhibition will be seen by more than two million people in 90 venues in 40 countries all over the world. All prize-winning images are exhibited without any form of censorship.
World Press Photo receives support from the Dutch Postcode Lottery and is sponsored worldwide by Canon and TNT. World Press Photo at USC Annenberg is supported by Getty Images and the Los Angeles Times.
