World Press Photos

I discovered the WPPF awards by accident via rferl.org and I scrolled through to see what the judges had selected. Most of the awards went to photos depicting war casualties, conflict and displaced persons.

The World Press Photo Foundation fosters the development and work of photographers around the world engaged in many situations, including hotspots of trouble and conflict around the world.

 The contest website opens in December, closes in January and the results are announced in February.

From the 19 photographs, which received awards for 2015, I have chosen three which cover disaster, nature and refugees and these three are not nearly as confronting as many of the other award photographs.

This first photo was awarded third prize in the General News Stories category, the photographer is Daniel Berehulak and the image shows people searching through the rubble after the earthquake in Nepal.

When I look at this scene I see the destruction wrought by the earthquake, the piles of bricks and rubble; soldiers standing around, a man with a rake hoping to find something, scattered doors and splinters of timber spread about the area. Wreckage all around.  How utterly shattering for the people who must have once called those buildings home.

My second choice was awarded first prize in Stories in the General News category, won by Russian photographer, Sergei Ponomarev. His image, taken in October 2015, shows a Slovenian police officer  on horseback escorting migrants after they had crossed from Croatia.

In this photograph  the horse and rider are to the fore, the scene is one which might be in a rural setting. A man on his horse tending a flock, until closer inspection reveals the 'flock' as a mass of people, reduced to anonymity in the background. The anonymity of refugees, which can be transferred from the photograph to the consciousness in the minds of many people throughout the world.

My third choice moves away from disasters and displacement to a happier place. This image by Mexican photographer, Anuar Patjane, was awarded second prize Singles in the Nature category. It shows a humpback whale and its newborn calf off the coast of the Revillagigedo Islands

A marvellous photo. In the right of the photo are smaller marine inhabitants and to the left, strange robotic looking creatures.  Photographers, no less. Thanks to them, we are able to witness the wonders of the deep. 

Here are the complete list of awards; be warned, some of them are not a pretty sight.