Now in its 55th year, the annual World Press Photo show, put together by the World Press Photo organization, brings the best of the past year’s press photos together in one place, profiling the focused work of 54 photographers selected by an expert jury – this year the jury chose from among a whopping 5,247 photographers from 124 countries.

Education and artistry are on equal footing in the exhibition, each photo accompanied by written details about the story it tells, which often has a political angle. Winners are divided into 10 categories that reflect the diversity of stories in the media today. In the General News Singles category, Mubarak Steps Down by Alex Majoli took first prize with shots of Tharir Square in Cairo in February, while Rémi Ochlik’s Battle for Libya took first prize in General News Stories, and the Spot News first prize went to The Fury of the Tsunami by Koichiro Tezuka, whose photos show the devastation that hit the town of the town of Natori in Japan. On an even more personal level, Samuel Aranda’s photo of a man suffering from tear-gas exposure won the People in the News Singles award, and Yasuyoshi Chiba’s photos of Japan tsunami survivors gained him the People in the News Stories award. Other categories in this year’s exhibition span Daily Life, Sports, Portraits, Arts and Entertainment, Contemporary News and Nature, where photos span topics as various as Ukrainian feminist groups, Indigenous communities in Bolivia, Dakar Fashion Week, living with Alzheimer’s, the Ironman Championships, the purportedly largest cave on Earth, and more.

It’s also interesting to note that the World Press Photo Multimedia Contest is back for the second year in a row, with three juried winning productions and a special mention, showing an expansion of the definition of press photography. First prize went to Afrikaner Blood, by Ilvy Njiokiktjien (photography) and Elles van Gelder (videography and audio), a documentary that looks critically at a militant South African group that refuses to support a multicultural nation, while the other projects include Half-Lives: The Chernobyl Workers Now, America’s Dead Sea, and Punched Out: The Life and Death of a Hockey Enforcer.

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THE DETAILS

World Press Photo, September 7-30, 2012

Marché Bonsecours, 325 De La Commune East

Photo Credits: Tuna Fish in the Tonnara – Francesco Zizola, Earthquake in Japan – Lars Lindqvist, Battle for Libya – Rémi Ochlik, Dakar fashion week – Vincent Boisot

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