World Press Photo 2020
A few days ago the selection of the winners of the 63rd World Press Photo, surely one of the most important and well-known Photojournalism awards in the world, was announced.
More than 4000 participating photographers and over 73 thousand images submitted.
The first prize for the World Press Photo of the Year 2020 photo was awarded to the Japanese photographer of the France Press Agency, Yasuyoshi Chiba.
Single Picture of the year and General News. A man recites a poem during an anti-government demonstration in Khartoum, Sudan, June 19, 2019. (Yasuyoshi Chiba, Agence France-Presse)
The image was taken in Khartoum, Sudan, during a blackout on June 19, 2019. It depicts a young man, illuminated by the phones of other protesters, reciting lines from a protest poem as protesters around him shout against the government, demanding civil reforms.
From the author's own words, “The place was immersed in a total blackout. At one point, unexpectedly, people began clapping their hands in the darkness and using the flashlights of their cell phones to illuminate a young man in the center of the crowd.
The young man recited a famous protest poem and then improvised another one. Between verses everyone shouted “Thawra,” the word Revolution in Arabic. His voice and facial expression literally captured me , I couldn't help but constantly keep my attention on him and keep snapping to capture the moment.”
Another very important award, since this is a photo journalism competition where, in addition to the single news photo, stories and long-term projects are also valued is that of the story of the year .
The first World Press Photo Story of the Year 2020 award and for Long Term Project of the Year went to “Kho, the Genesis of a Revolution” a beautiful work by French photographer Romain Laurendeau who documented the demonstrations in Algeria in recent years.
22/11/2014, Bologhine, Algiers: Soccer fans sing during a derby match. Due to violence, the match takes place behind closed doors. Fans gather in front of the Notre Dame d'Afrique church to catch a glimpse of the match below.
Kho-the term in North African Arabic slang means 'brother'-is a work about the genesis of an uprising.
It is the story of the deep discomfort of Algerian youth, who in defiance of authority, inspired the rest of the population to join the uprising, giving birth to the largest protest movement in decades.
“It was impossible for me not to recognize myself in these young people, tired of this situation in the country and demanding to live like everyone else,” the photographer said.
08/12/2014 climat de France, Alger, Algerie : In the “Climat de France” housing estate in Bab El Oued, a youngster has brought back a trumpet immediately creating a crowd among the petty caïds. No one knows how to play it, but the enthusiasm is general. The trumpet, an instrument associated with the stadium, is very popular and considered very virile...
16/03/2016, Soustara, Algiers: Young people watching a soccer match at the Olympia cinema. Several times a week, the Olympia cinema turns into a stadium when European matches are broadcast. Young people can escape the streets for a few hours.
01/05/2016, Stade du 5 juillet, Algiers: During the Algerian Cup final, the Ultras chant insults at the State, the President, the generals and the police. During the finals, the state fills a third of the stadium with officials in uniform: generals, army, police and firemen.
22/12/2015, Stade du 5 juillet, Algiers: The “Stade du 5 juillet” is packed to the rafters for the MCA / USMA Derby, two major teams in the Algerian championship. The 85,000-seat stadium was recently renovated after a stand collapsed, killing 2 people. Defoulement.
An old man sitting on a staircase in Bab el Oued. The elders of Bab El Oued saw the emergence of the Niqab some twenty years ago. Morals have become more radical since the black decade.
For me, this work is the essence of photojournalism, not only in the language and effectiveness of the storytelling but also in the technique and manner in which it was done.
Technical and equipment data are never relevant in the making and judging of a photographic work, but since World Press Photo makes known for each photo the shooting data and the camera with which it was made, statistics and discussions have opened up about the tools most used by photojournalists around the world. See for example this article .
Leaving brand comparisons to others, what struck me was the fact that the work was done solely with a small mirrorless fixed-lens camera (equivalent to 35mm, the queen focal length of reportage): a single camera of very small weight and size (almost a compact) and a single focal length: basically, the essence of photography.
The minimum of means for the maximum of results.
This choice was probably the result of the photographer's need to blend more easily with the environment to be told and to be as unobtrusive as possible.
In this way Laurendeau was able to enter and be accepted in contexts I imagine that are not exactly easy to photograph.
The closeness to the subjects is very much felt in the photographs and is what I think makes the narrative stronger.
A reportage carried out for several years (the work as we said also won the award for the long-term project category), where the photographer has probably lived long periods and several times over time in the places frequented by Algerian youth.
A testimony, which I welcome, to the importance of delving into stories, returning to the same places several times to capture their different facets and tell the human stories that live there with greater intimacy and participation.
All the other winning photos and stories on the World Press Photo website.
