The highly acclaimed global World Press Photo Exhibition, which is seen by millions each year, returns to Auckland, NZ, for the first time since 2019 to showcase and celebrate photojournalism and documentary photography of the past year.
The annual exhibition, which is seen in over 60 cities around the world, now includes Tāmaki Makaurau once more thanks to the Rotary Club of Auckland. The exhibition will take place from July 22 to August 20 at Smith and Caughey’s newly opened Level 5 Gallery Space.
Founded in 1955, the contest has grown into one of the world’s most prestigious competitions, sharing the stories that matter with the public. To offer a more global and better geographic balance of perspectives, the World Press Photo Foundation launched a new regional strategy last year. The 2023 contest has six worldwide regions – Africa, Asia, Europe, North and Central America, South America, and Southeast Asia and Oceania – with entries judged and awarded in the region in which the photographs and stories are shot, rather than the nationality of the photographer.
This year’s World Press Photo Contest already announced global winners, chosen from thousands of entrants, highlighting the climate crisis, community, war’s impact on civilians, and the importance of press photography around the world.
With Russia’s war in Ukraine constantly in the news, the Photo of the Year went to Evgeniy Maloletka for his confronting image from the siege of Mariupol, which perfectly captures the human suffering caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in a single image.
The Story of the Year – nine haunting but beautiful photos by Mads Nissen – refuses to let us forget the people of Afghanistan now living under the Taliban, with a lack of international aid.
The Long-Term Project Award went to Anush Babajanyan, for her work spanning years to highlight a story not often covered outside Central Asia about water management impacts after the end of the Soviet Union, made worse by the climate crisis – but most importantly, showing the powerful spirit of people forced to adapt to new realities.
The Open Format Award went to Mohamed Mahdy, who is collaborating with neighbourhood residents of Al Max, in Alexandria, Egypt, to preserve the memory of their fast-disappearing fishing village and has invited the whole world to participate through an interactive website.
The four global winners were selected from 24 regional winners, which were chosen from more than 60,000 entries (still images and multimedia) submitted by 3,752 entrants from 127 countries. The entries were judged first by six regional juries and all winners chosen by a global jury consisting of the regional jury chairs plus the global jury chair.
The Rotary Club of Auckland is proud to bring the World Press Photo Exhibition to Auckland, with all proceeds going towards Rotary Foundation projects and the TYLA (Turn Your Life Around) Youth Development Trust.
World Press Photo Exhibition When: July 22 – August 20, 2023 Where: Level 5, Smith and Caughey’s, 261 Queen Street, Auckland, NZ How much: Adult weekend $25.00, Adult weekday $20.00, Student/Senior Citizen $15 anytime worldpressphotoexhibitionauckland.nz worldpressphoto.org