World Press Photo exhibition applies the same old theme<\/p>\n
By K. Basrie<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): As in the past seven years, the Netherlands-
\nbased World Press Photo Foundation is displaying prizewinning
\npictures of its annual photo competition.<\/p>\n
As a yearly exhibition here, regular visitors, particularly
\nphotographers and keen hobbyists, will naturally have one
\nimportant question on their minds:<\/p>\n
Will there be any new images that can boost skills and broaden
\none's horizons, leading to a very new world of press photography?<\/p>\n
On exhibition at Erasmus Hius on Jl. Rasuna Said, South
\nJakarta, until next Tuesday, the photographs selected by a panel
\nof 10 judges for the 1998 competition, however, carry the same
\nold message: the gloomy side of the world, particularly in poor
\ncountries.<\/p>\n
The selected 356 pictures for 61 prizes mostly catch glimpses
\nof massacres, clashes, starving refugees, forlorn people, the
\nfate of the poor and natural disasters that were recorded by
\nphotojournalists in 1997.<\/p>\n
In the Spot News category, for example, the winning single
\nshots pictured a confrontation between Israelis and Palestinians
\nin Hebron, a bloody massacre in Algiers and the arrest of highway
\nrobbers in Albania.<\/p>\n
While in the serial stories, the jury picked pictures of an
\nantigovernment rebellion in Albania that led to clashes, killings
\nand an exodus; the dreadful journey of thousands of Rwandan
\nrefugees, including women and children, on an open-topped,
\noverloaded train from Biaro camp to Kisangani; and the success
\nstory of Peru's special commando troops which stormed the
\nJapanese ambassador's residence in Lima to rescue hostages, many
\nof whom were VIPs.<\/p>\n
One of the latter snaps illustrates nervous-looking Peruvian
\nforeign minister Francisco Tudela in blood-stain clothing,
\nlooking for safety under the escort of soldiers.<\/p>\n
Screaming<\/p>\n
In the People in the News category, the winning portraits
\ndepict a crying Algerian woman screaming over the possible death
\nof her family in the slaughter in Bentalha; an injured
\nPalestinian surrounded by armed Israeli soldiers; and the funeral
\nof a man killed by a stray bullet in Berat, Albania.<\/p>\n
The serial winning pictures depict people's lives during the
\neconomic and political turmoil in Albania, the poorest country in
\nEurope; the Intifada movement; and the end of the Tory era in the
\nBritish politics.<\/p>\n
In the single General News category, the winning pictures are
\na shot of a group of housewives in Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.,
\ncomparing their guns for security reasons; an exhausted newly wed
\ncouple inside a moving luxury sedan in Taiwan; mentally ill
\npatients taken from cubicles in a hospital in Pakistan.<\/p>\n
The winning serial photos are of the daily activities a 33-
\nyear-old drug addict-prostitute of the Bronx in New York City;
\nthe joys and laughter of Moscow's nouveau riche inside the 200-
\nyear-old Sandunovskaya Banya public bathhouse; and how minors
\nlabor to earn a living in San Salvador, Sri Lanka, Tanzania.<\/p>\n
In the single Sports category, a close-up of the injured ear
\nof boxer Evander Holyfield after being bitten by Mike Tyson; a
\nshot of American sprinter Maurice Greene, who stuck his tongue
\nout at an opponent from Canada in an international race in
\nGreece; and a portrait of members of the Brazilian Priests'
\nFootball Team in the changing room drew the attention of the
\njury.<\/p>\n
The on-tour activities of a junior baseball team; gay rodeo
\nparticipants in action outside Washington D.C.; and the sad story
\nof a 12 year old taking part in a local boxing competition in
\nLennexa, Kansas, took over the sports stories category.<\/p>\n
Portraits of the world's top sumo wrestlers competing in the
\nAustralian Grand Sumo Tournament in Sydney in mid-June only won
\nan honorable mention prize.<\/p>\n
The jury, which came from nine different countries, including
\ntwo from Asia (Iraq and Hong Kong), may be right in saying that
\nthe selected pictures are nothing but the truth of all that
\nhappened in 1997.<\/p>\n
On the panel's decision to pick a picture of a woman grieving
\nafter a massacre in Algiers shot by AFP photographer Hocine, the
\nchairman of the 1998 jury, Neil Burgess, commented:<\/p>\n
\"The winning photograph has been praised as a masterful,
\npainterly image of great skill and vision. But it becomes even
\nmore important if we see it as a tool which can help prize the
\ntruth from the tragedy that is Algeria today -- a truth which
\nmany would prefer to keep hidden.\"<\/p>\n
According to the jury, the 1998 competition was participated
\nin by 3,627 photographers from 115 countries with 36,041 entries.<\/p>\n
From Indonesia, 51 photographers submitted shots for the
\ncompetition, which so far is the only press photo contest in the
\nworld.<\/p>\n
Technique<\/p>\n
In terms of technique, there is nothing special about the
\npictures. A complicated procedure and expensive gadgets were only
\nused in the winning photos of the Science and Technology
\ncategory.<\/p>\n
In the other eight categories, it is the eyes and the hearts
\nof the photographers that play the greatest role compared to the
\nequipment used.<\/p>\n
But the professional works of the World Press Photo Foundation
\nis a must see for any, repeat any, photographer, including
\nhobbyists and amateurs, not only the press corps.<\/p>\n
Here in Indonesia, photo editors would be wise to spend a
\nlittle time to take a glimpse at the exhibition, which will also
\nbe on show in Yoyakarta, Semarang and Surabaya.<\/p>",
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