(NDIMA/IFEX) – The World Press Photo Foundation and the Network for the Defence of Independent Media in Africa (NDIMA) have announced the World Press Photo Contest. The cornerstone of the Foundation’s activities, the contest is the only international event of this stature, with pictures coming from photographers at work in all parts of the world. […]
(NDIMA/IFEX) – The World Press Photo Foundation and the Network
for the Defence of Independent Media in Africa (NDIMA) have
announced the World Press Photo Contest. The cornerstone of the
Foundation’s activities, the contest is the only international
event of this stature, with pictures coming from photographers at
work in all parts of the world. Entries take in all major news-
making events and situations. These elements combined make for a
contest which closely reflects how the world press gives people
the news.
Each year in September, over 150,000 entry forms are distributed
world-wide, inviting individual professional press
photographers, press agencies, newspapers and magazines to submit
the best news-related pictures of the year to the contest. Each
year, tens of thousands of photographs are submitted to the
Foundation’s administrative offices in Amsterdam to meet the
annual competition deadline at the end of January (The deadline
for the current competition is 23 January 1998.)
An international jury composed of nine picture editors,
photographers and representatives of agencies will be invited to
evaluate the submitted photography. The jury members are
professionals in photojournalism from different parts of the
world who have widely divergent backgrounds. The variety of their
critical perceptions gives the contest its range and dynamism.
The jury members operate independently; the organisers have no
influence on the choices they make.
Judging will take place over an intensive seven-day period in
February 1998. The work of established photojournalists competes
on equal footing with the work of photographers just starting out
on their careers. First, second and third prizes are awarded in
nine categories – for picture stories as well as single images –
to ensure the submission of cross-the-board and in-depth news
photography. The categories are: Spot News; the Arts; General
News; Daily Life; People in the News; Portraits; Sports; Science
and Technology; and Nature and the Environment.
The World Press Photo of the Year will honour the photographer
whose photograph, selected from all entries, can be rightfully
regarded as the photojournalistic encapsulation of the year. The
award carries a cash prize of NLG 15,000 (about US$ 7500) and an
invitation to Amsterdam to attend the annual award ceremony.
The decisions of the jury will be announced at a press conference
at the Boekmanzaal, City Hall, Amsterdam, on 13 February 1998.
Prize winners will be informed by telephone, fax or e-mail
immediately after the final selection. All contestants will
receive acknowledgement of their participation and a complete
list of winners soon after the 13 February date.
