World Press Photo Foundation is an independent, non-profit organization based in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. Founded in 1955, the organization is known for holding an annual press

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is emplo ...

contest. Since 2011, World Press Photo has organized a separate annual contest for journalistic multimedia productions, and, in association with

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human ...

, the annual Tim Hetherington Grant.

Objectives

A primary objective of the organization is to support professional photojournalism on a wide international scale through the World Press Photo Academy. It aims to stimulate developments in

photojournalism Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (such ...

, encourage the transfer of knowledge, help develop high professional standards in visual journalism and promote a free and unrestricted exchange of information. It organizes a number of educational projects throughout the world: seminars, workshops and the annual Joop Swart Masterclass.

Award ceremony

An annual awards ceremony is held in the Oude Kerk in Amsterdam. After the contest, the prizewinning photographs are assembled into a travelling exhibition. A yearbook presenting all prizewinning entries is published annually in six languages. In addition to selecting the World Press Photo of the Year, the contest determines winners in the following other categories: Spot News, General News, People, Sports, Contemporary Issues, Daily Life, Portraits and Nature.

Recent winners

New York-based photographer Spencer Platt of

Getty Images Getty Images Holdings, Inc. is an American visual media company and is a supplier of stock images, editorial photography, video and music for business and consumers, with a library of over 477 million assets. It targets three markets—creativ ...

won in 2006. His picture showed a group of young Lebanese driving through a South Beirut neighborhood devastated by

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

i bombings. The picture was taken on 15 August 2006, the first day of the

ceasefire A ceasefire (also known as a truce or armistice), also spelled cease fire (the antonym of 'open fire'), is a temporary stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions. Ceasefires may be between state ac ...

between Israel and Hezbollah when thousands of Lebanese started returning to their homes. In 2007, a total of 4,460 professional photographers from 124 countries entered 78,083 images in the competition. The winner was the British photographer Tim Hetherington. In 2008,

Anthony Suau Anthony Suau is an American photojournalist and documentary filmmaker, based in New York City. Life and work Suau was born in Peoria, Illinois. He worked for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'', and ''The Denver Post'', was a contract photographer for ''Tim ...

, of USA, won the World Press Photo of the Year for the second time (the first was in 1987). Amit Sha'al of Israel won third prize in 2011 in the category of Arts and Entertainment: Stories. During an exhibit in

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus lie ...

that year, World Press Photo was asked to remove Sha'al's photos because, according to the General Security Directorate, Lebanon and

were "in a state of war." WPP refused to censor the Israeli artist and shut down the exhibit ten days ahead of schedule.

Exhibitions

In November 2017, the World Press Photo Foundation held its largest US exhibition ever, in Washington, DC's Dupont Circle's Dupont Underground art space.

Joop Swart Masterclass

Since 1994 World Press Photo has organised the Joop Swart Masterclass, where photojournalists who are considered notable are selected to mentor a group of young photographers.

References

External links

Slideshows of World Press Photo winners, 2005–the present
at LensCulture
World Press Photo Winners 2005
at the BBC
World Press Photo Winners 2004
at the BBC
World Press Photo Exhibition in Amsterdam's Oude Kerk, May 2013
(Video) {{Authority control Photography awards Non-profit organisations based in the Netherlands Organisations based in the Netherlands with royal patronage Organisations based in Amsterdam 1955 establishments in the Netherlands Organizations established in 1955 Photography exhibitions