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| World Press Photo of the Year, Mads Nissen, Denmark |
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| Peter Muller’s photo of medical staff and a delirious patient at the Hastings Ebola Treatment Center for National Geographic and The Washington Post won first prize in General News. |
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| Glenna Gordon’s shots of school uniforms belonging to three girls kidnapped by Boko Haram won second prize for the General News stories category. |
A poignant moment shared between gay couple Jon and Alex may, at first
glance, seem unremarkable. Yet this image has been chosen as the most
outstanding photograph from almost 98,000 entered into this year’s World Press
Photo competition.
In a year when nearly 300 Nigerian schoolgirls were kidnapped by Islamic
militants Boko Haram, Ebola was rife in Africa and Malaysian Airlines flight
MH17 crashed in the Ukraine, this intimate moment in St Petersburg, Russia, was
judged as the best example of a contemporary issue.
“This photo is aesthetically
powerful, and it has humanity,” Michele McNally, Assistant Managing Editor of
the New York Times, and chair of the
World Press Photo judging committee, says. “It is an historic time for the
image.”
Life for lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) people is becoming
increasingly difficult in Russia, with sexual minorities facing legal and
social discrimination, harassment or even violent hate-crimes.
Jon and Alex posed for photographer Mads Nissen for the Danish newspaper Politiken. “Make no mistake, in many
parts of the world, distributing this image will cost you your freedom,” Nissen
says.
“Being in this peaceful image will get you killed. With this photograph
we are challenging homophobia and the hetero-normative definition of love.”
The powerful photo features in the World Press Photo Exhibition being
hosted by the Rotary Club of Auckland in July. Now in its 58th
year, the World Press Photo Exhibition is a compilation of the best images
chosen from nine categories in the internationally-renowned competition.
Rotary Club of Auckland President Craig Horrocks is proud that his club
continues to host this high-calibre showcase.
“That an image of a gay couple is so culturally significant seems
incongruous in a country where we have sexual equality.
“It’s just one example of the powerful, thought-provoking
images in the exhibition that remind us just how peace relies on acceptance of
diversity as a cultural value. New Zealand is fortunate in that our
geographical isolation has protected us and tolerance is still a feature of our
society,” Horrocks says.
“The collection brings the world to New Zealand, and that is why our
Rotary club is proud to be involved, because it showcases so much of what we
believe in and work towards.”
·
World Press Photo Exhibition, July 4-26,
Smith & Caughey, Queen Street, Auckland. Tickets: $10 each (students $5).
Online bookings and information: www.worldpressphoto.co.nz
