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Canon has issued a statement in which the Japanese giant congratulates Jodi Bieber for winning the World Press Photo of the Year award with her portrait of Bibi Aisha, a brutally mutilated Afghan girl. For her winning image, Jodi Bieber will receive a cash prize of €10,000 and a Canon EOS body and lens kit. Ms. Bieber’s photo also took the first place in the Portraits category, while the first prize in the Spot News category went to Hungary’s Péter Lakatos for his entry, “Suicide Jump”.

Canon Press Release

Canon congratulates World Press Photo of the Year winner

United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, 11th February 2011 - Canon today extends its congratulations to Jodi Bieber, a photographer from South Africa for winning the esteemed World Press Photo of the Year 2010 for her portrait of Bibi Aisha which was shot for Time magazine and featured on the front cover of the 1st August issue. The portrait was also awarded First prize in the category Portraits Singles in this year’s contest.

Now in its 54th year, the World Press Photo Contest is universally acknowledged as the world’s premier competition for photojournalism and its accolades are coveted by photographers across the world. This year, 5,847 professional photographers representing 125 nationalities submitted a record number of 108,059 images – an increase of five per cent from last year.  Canon has been a corporate partner of World Press Photo since 1992.

Kieran Magee, Professional Imaging Marketing Director, Canon Europe, commented “Powerful images bring news and events to life and make them resonate more strongly with us, the viewing public. We feel hugely privileged to have a relationship with World Press Photo that has spanned an eventful 19 years of history and showcases Canon’s commitment to the Power of Image. The incredible images from this year’s entrants have continued to raise the bar for photojournalism and we would like to congratulate each and every entrant for their fantastic contribution”.

Photographers, photo agencies, newspapers and magazines from around the world submitted their best news-related pictures from the previous year. An international jury of picture editors, photographers and representatives of press agencies from different parts of the world – chaired by David Burnett, photojournalist and founding member Contact Press Images – then spent two weeks selecting the winners before awarding prizes in nine categories. For the second year running, specialised juries judged their categories in the first part of the contest. In the final round, one representative per category joined the general jury to ensure continuity.

Jodi Bieber’s winning picture shows Bibi Aisha, an 18-year-old woman from Oruzgan province in Afghanistan, who fled back to her family home from her husband’s house, complaining of violent treatment. The Taliban arrived one night, demanding Bibi be handed over to face justice. After a Taliban commander pronounced his verdict, Bibi’s brother-in-law held her down and her husband sliced off her ears and then cut off her nose. Bibi was abandoned, but later rescued by aid workers and the American military.

For her winning image, Jodi Bieber will receive a cash prize of €10,000 and a Canon EOS body and lens kit. Prizes are also awarded to first, second and third prizes in all categories. First prize winners in each category will receive a cash prize of €1,500.

The exhibition of prize-winning photography will be shown in over 100 cities across 45 countries, starting in Amsterdam in late April. In addition, a yearbook published in six languages offers an insight into the winning pictures. For the exhibition schedule please visit: http://www.worldpressphoto.org/exhibitions.

World Press Photo is supported by the Dutch Postcode Lottery and worldwide by Canon and TNT.

For further information about World Press Photo, please visit: http://www.worldpressphoto.org.

Photo Credit: Jodi Bieber, South Africa, Institute for Artist Management/Goodman Gallery for Time magazine

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