World Press Photo Exhibition

 The international jury of the 53rd annual World Press Photo Contest has selected a photo by the Italian photographer Pietro Masturzo as the World Press Photo of the Year 2009. The picture depicts women shouting in protest from a rooftop in Tehran, on 24 June. The winning photograph is part of a story depicting the nights following the contested presidential elections in Iran, when people shouted their dissent from roofs and balconies, after daytime protests in the streets. The story as a whole was awarded first prize in the category People in the News.

2010 contest statistics

The jury gave prizes in ten themed categories to 63 photographers of 23 nationalities from: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Ecuador, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Mali, Mexico, the Netherlands, Palestinian Territories, Peru, Somalia, Sweden, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and the United States.

During the two-week judging, the jury viewed a record number of photographs with 101,960 images submitted by 5,847 photographers. The photographers represent 128 different nationalities.

Entries by photographers from Asia continued a steady increase, with the majority of entries coming from China with 586 submissions (2009:490) and Indonesia with 107 submissions (2009: 77). Africa also had a higher number of entries, with a 7.5% increase. European photographers were well represented, with a significant increase from photographers from Italy with 370 entries (2009: 306) and Russia with 156 entries (2009: 130). 

For the 2010 contest, specialized juries took part in the initial rounds of judging for the categories Sports, Nature and Portraits. The specialized juries were created with the intention of bringing more focus to the categories, and raising the overall standard even further. The members of the specialized juries brought extensive experience, knowledge and their diverse perspectives to enhance the judging process. After the specialized juries judged their categories in the first part of the contest, one representative per category joined the general jury for the final round, to ensure continuity.

Jury appoints a Special Mention

Following the judging of the contest, the jury decided to name a Special Mention, recognizing a frame grab from a video posted on YouTube in June 2009 during the post-election uprising in Iran. It depicts a woman identified as Neda Agha-Soltan lying on the ground after being shot in the chest.

Jury member David Griffin of National Geographic commented: “I am pleased that World Press Photo has provided an avenue for non-professional images that have a significant impact on the historical visual record.”

The jury considers an image for a Special Mention when it has played an essential role in the news reporting of the year worldwide and could not have been made by a professional photographer.

World Press Photo receives support from the Dutch Postcode Lottery and is sponsored worldwide by Canon and TNT.

This exhibition may contain confronting images and is recommended for ages 15+. Children under 15 must be supervised by a parent or guardian.