John Stanmeyer Wins World Press Photo of the Year 2013
The jury of the 57th annual World Press Photo competition has selected a picture by American photographer John Stanmeyer of the VII Photo Agency as the World Press Photo of the Year 2013. The image shows African migrants on the shore of Djibouti city at night, raising their phones in an attempt to capture an inexpensive signal from neighbouring Somalia in order to get in touch with relatives abroad. The picture also won 1st Prize in the Contemporary Issues category, and was shot for National Geographic using a Canon EOS 5D Mark III camera with a Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L USM lens. The image was taken at an aperture f/1.4 and 1/40th second exposure and ISO 10,000. Canon, the competition's worldwide sponsor, congratulated Stanmeyer on winning the contest.
Website: World Press Photo Contest Gallery
Canon Press Release
Canon congratulates winner of World Press Photo of the Year
LONDON, 14 February 2014 – Canon Europe, world-leader in imaging solutions, today offers congratulations to John Stanmeyer, winner of the World Press Photo of the Year 2013. His winning image shows African migrants on the shore of Djibouti city at night, raising their phones in an attempt to capture an inexpensive signal from neighbouring Somalia – a tenuous link to relatives abroad. It also won first prize in the Contemporary Issues Singles category, and was shot for National Geographic.
The World Press Photo Contest, universally acknowledged as the world’s most prestigious competition for photojournalists, has been sponsored by Canon since 1992. Now in its 57th year, the competition saw 5,754 professional photographers from 132 countries submit 98,671 images. The jury awarded prizes in nine themed categories to 53 photographers of 25 nationalities, with one image being selected as World Press Photo of the Year 2013.
“We’re very proud to support photojournalists from across the world, and reward their talents in taking arresting images and bringing them to an international audience,” comments Kieran Magee, Marketing Director, Professional Imaging, Canon Europe. “John Stanmeyer’s beautiful winning photograph shows the importance of the power of image by shining a light on a contemporary global issue with great artistry and skill.”
Stanmeyer took his winning image on a Canon EOS 5D Mark III camera with an EF 35mm f/1.4L USM lens. The image was shot at an aperture f/1.4 and 1/40th second exposure and ISO 10,000.
Canon Ambassador, Brent Stirton, was the winner in the People – Staged Portraits Singles category. Stirton’s winning image shows a group of blind albino boys in their boarding room at the Vivekananda mission school for the blind in West Bengal, India. Also, Markus Varesvuo, a Canon Explorer, won second prize in the Nature Singles category for his shot of a flock of guillemots taken in Vardo, Norway.
As winner of the World Press Photo of the Year 2013, Stanmeyer will receive a cash prize of €10,000 fromWorld Press Photo at an awards ceremony in Amsterdam. In addition, Canon Europe will provide him with a professional DSLR camera and lens kit.
The prize-winning pictures are presented in an exhibition visiting more than 100 cities in over 45 countries. The first 2014 World Press Photo exhibition opens in Amsterdam on 18 April 2014. This year's exhibition displays will be printed on Arizona flatbed printers by Océ, which is part of the Canon Group.
Further information about World Press Photo is available at www.worldpressphoto.org
WPP Press Release
AMERICAN PHOTOGRAPHER JOHN STANMEYER WINS WORLD PRESS PHOTO OF THE YEAR 2013
Thu, 02/13/2014 - 20:58
The international jury of the 57th annual World Press Photo Contest has selected an image by American photographer John Stanmeyer of the VII Photo Agency as the World Press Photo of the Year 2013. The picture shows African migrants on the shore of Djibouti city at night, raising their phones in an attempt to capture an inexpensive signal from neighboring Somalia — a tenuous link to relatives abroad. Djibouti is a common stop-off point for migrants in transit from such countries as Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea, seeking a better life in Europe and the Middle East. The picture also won 1st Prize in the Contemporary Issues category, and was shot for National Geographic.
For an overview of all the winners visit: http://www.worldpressphoto.org/awards/2014
The jury gave prizes in nine themed categories to 53 photographers of 25 nationalities from: Argentina, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bulgaria, China, Czech Republic, El Salvador, Finland, France, Germany, Iran, Italy, Jordan, Mexico, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Russia, Serbia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, the UK and the USA.
The members of the jury announced the winners at a press conference held at the World Press Photo offices in Amsterdam on 14 February.
Comments on the winners by the jury
Jillian Edelstein, jury member from the UK/South Africa said:
“It’s a photo that is connected to so many other stories—it opens up discussions about technology, globalization, migration, poverty, desperation, alienation, humanity. It’s a very sophisticated, powerfully nuanced image. It is so subtly done, so poetic, yet instilled with meaning, conveying issues of great gravity and concern in the world today.”
Susan Linfield, jury member from the USA said:
“What we’re looking for in the winning image is the same quality you would look for in a great film or in literature—the impression that it exists on more than one level, that it makes you think about things you haven’t thought about. You begin to explore the layers not only of what’s there, but of what isn’t there. So many pictures of migrants show them as bedraggled and pathetic…but this photo is not so much romantic, as dignified.”
David Guttenfelder, jury member from the USA said:
“The photo is like a message in a bottle, it is one that will last for all of us. People will bring their own life experiences to it as they stand in front of it.”
The judging was conducted at the World Press Photo office in Amsterdam. All entries were presented anonymously to the jury, who discussed their merits over a two-week period. The jury operates independently and a secretary without voting rights safeguards the fairness of the procedure. The contest drew entries from professional press photographers, photojournalists and documentary photographers across the world. By the mid-January deadline, 98,671 images had been submitted by 5,754 photographers from 132 countries.
2014 Photo Contest Jury
A group of 19 internationally recognized professionals in the fields of photojournalism and documentary photography convened in Amsterdam from 1 to 13 February 2014 to judge all entries.
The final rounds were judged by:
Chair:
Gary Knight, UK, founder photographer VII Photo Agency
Members:
• Daniel Beltrá, Spain/USA, photographer
• Jillian Edelstein, UK/South Africa, photographer
• David Guttenfelder, USA, chief Asia photographer The Associated Press
• Hideko Kataoka, Japan, director of photography Newsweek Japan
• Koyo Kouoh, Cameroon, founder and artistic director Raw Material Company
• Susie Linfield, USA, associate professor and director of the cultural reporting and criticism program, New York University
• Kerim Okten, Turkey, photographer
• Francesco Zizola, Italy, photojournalist Noor Images
The first round in News and Documentary was judged by:
Chair: Gary Knight, UK, founder photographer VII Photo Agency
• Adrees Latif, Pakistan/USA, photographer and editor in charge US pictures Reuters
• Daniel Merle, Argentina, picture editor and curator
• Marie Sumalla, France, photo editor Le Monde
• Newsha Tavakolian, Iran, photographer
The first and second rounds in Sports were judged by:
Chair: Kerim Okten, Turkey, photographer
• Tom Jenkins, UK, sports photographer
• Miriam Marseu, USA, photo editor Sports Illustrated
The first and second rounds in Nature were judged by:
Chair: Daniel Beltrá, Spain/USA, photographer
• Rosamund Kidman Cox, UK, editor
• Luciano Candisani, Brazil, nature photojournalist
The first and second rounds in Portraits were judged by:
Chair: Jillian Edelstein, UK/South Africa, photographer
• Alessia Glaviano, Italy, senior photo editor Vogue Italia and L’Uomo Vogue
• Terence Pepper, UK, senior special advisor National Portrait Gallery
Jury secretaries:
• Secretary for News and Documentary and for the second week of judging:
David Campbell, Australia, independent writer, researcher, lecturer and producer
• Secretary for the categories Nature, Portraits and Sports:
Simon Njami, Cameroon, independent curator, lecturer and art critic
For the biographies of the 2014 World Press Photo Contest jury go to: http://www.worldpressphoto.org/2014-photo-contest/meet-the-jury
Prizes
The jury gives first, second and third prizes in all categories. First-prize winners in each category receive a cash prize of 1,500 euros. Winners of second and third prizes, and those receiving honorable mention, receive a Golden Eye Award and a diploma. The premier award, the World Press Photo of the Year, carries a cash prize of 10,000 euros. In addition, Canon will donate a professional DSLR camera and lens kit to the author of the World Press Photo of the Year 2013. The annual Awards Days, a two-day celebration of the prizewinners, takes place in Amsterdam on 24 and 25 April 2014. For further information, please go to:http://www.worldpressphoto.org/event/2014-awards-days
Special Mention
Following the judging of the contest, the jury decided to give a Special Mention to a six-image series from the town of Dunalley, Tasmania, Australia, where 90 homes were destroyed by wildfires during a period of record high temperatures. The series of pictures, taken by Tim Holmes on 4 January, show his wife Tammy and their five grandchildren taking refuge under a jetty as a wildfire rages nearby. (Pictures courtesy of AP Photo/Holmes Family, Tim Holmes)
The jury said:
“None of the entries to the competition addressed the issue of the wildfires with such a sense of proximity. We are used to people these days documenting their own lives, and we are used to journalists documenting calamities that affect others, but here these two intersect—a family is documenting its own calamity, in a way we can easily relate to.”
The jury may consider a visual document for a Special Mention when it has played an essential role in the news reporting of the previous year and could not have been made by a professional photographer.
Exhibition
The prize-winning pictures are presented in an exhibition visiting more than 100 cities in over 45 countries. The first 2014 World Press Photo exhibition opens in Amsterdam in De Nieuwe Kerk on 18 April 2014. For more information about the exhibition in Amsterdam, please go to: http://www.worldpressphoto.org/exhibition/2014_Amsterdam
This year's exhibition displays will be printed on Arizona flatbed printers by Océ, which is part of the Canon Group.
Please see www.canon-europe.com for further information.
World Press Photo receives support from the Dutch Postcode Lottery and is sponsored worldwide by Canon.
Photo Credit: John Stanmeyer / VII / National Geographic
Loading comments…