The Prestigious World Press Photo Exhibition Heads To Auckland This July

Rotary Club of Auckland presents World Press Photo Exhibition
Saturday 20 July - Sunday 11 August, Auckland

Valim-babena. © Lee-Ann Olwage, for GEO
World Press Photo Story of the Year Winner 2024

The renowned global World Press Photo Exhibition, on display in more than 60 cities across the globe annually, makes its return to Auckland later this year to showcase a diverse selection of the world’s best photojournalism and documentary photography from the past year. The winning photographs from the World Press Photo Contest will be on display in Tāmaki Makaurau thanks to the Rotary Club of Auckland from 20 July – 11 August at Level 5 Gallery Space, Smith and Caughey’s.

Founded in 1955 the World Press Photo Contest has grown into one of the world’s most prestigious photography competitions, with six regional catoregies awarded (Africa, Asia, Europe, North and Central America, South America, and Southeast Asia and Oceania), alongside 4 overall global awards selected each year by an international jury. The winning photographs will be on display at the World Press Photo Exhibition, seen by millions each year.

This year’s World Press Photo Contest winners have just been announced, and were chosen from thousands of entrants. The photographs highlight the climate crisis, family and war. The works invite viewers to step outside the news cycle, and look more deeply at both prominent and overlooked stories from across the world.

The four World Press Photo Contest global winners are:

Photo of the Year
A Palestinian Woman Embraces the Body of Her Niece
Mohammed Salem, Palestine, Reuters
The photographer describes this photo, taken just days after his own wife gave birth, as a “powerful and sad moment that sums up the broader sense of what was happening in the Gaza Strip”. It shows Inas Abu Maamar (36) cradling the body of her niece Saly (5) who was killed, along with her mother and sister, when an Israeli missile struck their home, in Khan Younis, Gaza.
This photographer was awarded for the same topic over a decade ago. Detailed background on this photo is also available from Reuters.

Story of the Year
Valim-babena
Lee-Ann Olwage, South Africa, for GEO
In Madagascar, lack of public awareness surrounding dementia means that people displaying symptoms of memory loss are often stigmatised. In this photo, “Dada Paul” and his granddaughter Odliatemix get ready for church in Madagascar. He has lived with dementia for 11 years, and is cared for by his daughter Fara. This story is part of a longer term body of work by Olwage about dementia.

Long-Term Project Award
The Two Walls
Alejandro Cegarra, Venezuela, The New York Times/Bloomberg
Since 2019, Mexico's immigration policies have undergone a significant shift, transforming from a nation historically open to migrants and asylum seekers at its southern border to a country that enforces stringent immigration policies. Drawing from his own first-hand experience of migrating from his native Venezuela to Mexico in 2017, photographer Alejandro Cegarra initiated this project in 2018.

Open Format Award
War Is Personal
Julia Kochetova, Ukraine
Amidst tens of thousands of civilian and military casualties and an effective stalemate that has lasted for months, there are no signs of peace on the horizon for Russia’s war in Ukraine. This project weaves together photographic images with poetry, audio clips, and music in collaboration with a Ukrainian illustrator and DJ.

The four global winners were selected from 24 regional winners, which were chosen from more than 60,000 entries (still images and multimedia) submitted by 3,851 photographers from 130 countries. The entries were judged first by six regional juries and all winners chosen by a global jury consisting of the regional jury chairs plus the global jury chair.

The Rotary Club of Auckland is proud to bring the World Press Photo Exhibition to Auckland, with all proceeds from the event going towards the TYLA (Turn Your Life Around) Youth Development Trust and Rotary Youth Programmes.

World Press Photo Exhibition
Dates: Saturday 20 July - Sunday 11 August
Times: Sunday - Tuesday: 10.30am – 6pm. Wednesday – Saturday: 10.30am – 6.30PM
Location: Level 5, Smith and Caughey’s, 253 Queen Street
Ticket Prices: Adults $24, Seniors $20, Students $15
Booking via Eventfinda

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