World Press Photo 13: Montreal 2013

World Press Photo 13

The world's largest and most prestigious photo-journalism exhibition returns to the Montreal's Bonsecours Market, the exact location where it was held last year.

This year's event showcases 150 of the year's most memorable press photographs.

There are harsh-reality photographs on display. They show what many people on this planet face every day, which luckily for us does not correspond to our reality. The photo below depicts an explosion in Gaza strip. Incredibly, in the midst of the smoke, right in the centre of the picture, one can clearly see an outline of a white dove, a symbol of peace. The photo is by Bernat Armangue from The Associate Press. It won the 1^st Prize for Spot News Stories.

The picture below is by Rodrigo Abd, The Associate Press. It has won the 1^st Prize General News Singles. It shows Aida crying, as she recovers from severe injuries sustained during a bombardment of her home in Syria, in the northern city of Idlib. Her husband an two children were killed in the attack.

The exhibition also presents a few excellent photos that comment on the pollution of our environment and planet. One of them, just below, shows how oceans are littered with waists of human activity and with plastics. The photo is of a slow-moving, filter-feeding Whale Shark found in tropical and warm waters. It is the largest non-mammalian vertebrates on the planet and is currently listed as vulnerable species. Whale sharks feed by drifting with their mouth open, drawing in plankton, fish and crustaceans. Foreign objects, such as plastics, can also be drawn into shark’s digestive system, causing harm. This photograph by Thomas P. Pescheak has merited the 3rd Prize in the Nature Stories category.

The following photograph by Micah Albert, USA, has won the 1st Prize in the Contemporary Issues Singles category. It offers a lot of hope. It shows the resiliency of the human spirit even in adverse surroundings where, even in a dump, a person can be drawn to books and learning. In the photo, a woman sits on bags of waste she salvaged, at the Dandora municipal dump outside Nairobi, Kenya. She said she enjoyed looking at books during a brake from picking up garbage.

The last photo is by Wei Seng Chen from Malaysia, who won the 1^st Prize in Sports Action Singles category. A competitor and his charge reach the finish of a bull race in Batu Snagur, West Sumata, Indonesia. Pacu Jawi is a 400-year-old tradition in the area, held after the rice harvest. Competitors yoke themselves barefoot to two bulls using a wooden harness, and drive the animals by gripping their tails.

To find more about this exhibition visit the World Press Photo 13 website

http://worldpressphotomontreal.ca