World press photo expo opens today

JAKARTA (JP): The annual 1997 World Press Photo Exhibition is to open today at Erasmus Huis on Jl. H.R. Rasuna Said, South Jakarta, and continue until Feb. 22.

The Royal Netherlands Embassy announced yesterday that the traveling exhibition would display winning pictures from the worldwide photography competition.

This year's exhibition in Indonesia is jointly sponsored by Erasmus Huis and Suara Pembaruan daily, the embassy said.

Visiting Dutch Foreign Minister Hans van Mierlo, along with his Indonesian counterpart Ali Alatas, is scheduled to open the exhibition at 6:30 p.m.

The contest, which celebrated its 40th anniversary this year, reviewed 35,650 images taken by 3,663 photographers from 119 countries.

In 1996, Indonesian crime reporter Sholihuddin of the Surabaya-based Jawa Pos daily grabbed first prize in the Spot News category with a photograph of a military truck tipping over with 100 frightened youths on board and a military driver at the wheel.

The annual exhibition is staged at 65 venues in 35 countries, and all prizewinning entries are exhibited and published in a book.

The organizer of the contest, the Netherlands-based World Press Photo Foundation, calls itself an independent platform for international press photography and aims to increase public interest in the medium and promote the free flow of information worldwide.

Prior to the opening ceremony, local organizers will hold a discussion on photojournalism at 10:30 a.m. today. (bsr)