SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT WELCOMES WORLD PRESS PHOTO EXHIBITION 2008
On Friday, the Scottish Parliament will once again
open its doors to host the World Press Photo (WPP) exhibition gallery, from Friday
8 to Saturday 30 August 2008.
The World Press Photo exhibition is the result of a
worldwide annual competition attracting entries from leading photojournalists,
agencies, newspapers and magazines from across the globe. The free exhibition
has attracted more than 70,000 visitors in its previous two years at Holyrood.
The Scottish Parliament's Presiding Officer, Alex
Fergusson MSP said:
"We are delighted to welcome back the exhibition for
a third year to our Main Hall. The thought provoking images always form an
inspiring addition to the Festival of Politics and are extremely popular.
"Photojournalism will also feature prominently in our
Festival of Politics line up this year with the winner of the Portraits
category, Platon, discussing how he captures his award-winning images."
As well as being
the only Parliament to host the exhibition, Holyrood is also the only venue
outside of Amsterdam to include three Apple iMacs - providing touch-screen
interactive information on the winning photos, photographers and judging panel.
Amongst 2008's prize winning photojournalists, this
year's overall winner is UK born Tim Hetherington, with his powerful image
of an American soldier resting at a bunker in Afghanistan.
Other UK winners
include Vanessa Winship for her portrait of two girls living in rural Eastern Turkey, and Platon's portrait of Vladimir
Putin, former President of the Russian Federation.
Stephen Mayes, Secretary to the International Jury
who has the role of managing the competition judging, said:
"In looking at over 80,000 images submitted to
this year's competition the judges sought to reward creative and effective
journalism. Some images are challenging, others are metaphorical, but all of
them add richness to our understanding of the world."
The exhibition
contains breathtaking images from leading world events in 2007. The winning
images were selected from 80,536 photographs submitted by 5019 professional
photographers from 125 countries. The exhibition will be free to view.
The World Press Photo exhibition travels
to 100 cities in 50 different countries and is now in its 51st year. The Parliament is once again one
of only two locations in the United
Kingdom and the only Parliament
in the world to display the winning photos.
Background
World Press Photo Exhibition
Founded
in 1955, the World Press Photo (WPP) is run as an independent, non-profit
organisation with its office based in Amsterdam. The WPP is widely known for organising the world's largest
and most prestigious annual press photography contest. Prize winning photographs are assembled into a travelling
exhibition visited by over two
million people in 45 countries worldwide.
In addition, promotional activities include the stimulation of
photojournalism through educational programmes and creating greater visibility
for press photography through a variety of publications. Its mission is to encourage high
professional standards in photojournalism and to promote a free and
unrestricted exchange of information.
Members of the Dutch photojournalists' union created
an international competition to complement a national one that in turn created
the first World Press Photo of the Year in 1955.
World Press
Photo receives support from the Dutch Postcode Lottery and is sponsored
worldwide by Canon and TNT.
Stephen Mayes
Stephen Mayes is the Secretary to the International
Jury at World Press Photo Foundation. As Secretary he has a
non-voting role and his job is to manage the jury to ensure proper process. He
has recently been appointed
as Director of VII Photo in New York which is an agency
representing a group of leading photojournalists. He has worked with photography, art and journalism for 20 years and is currently
director of the image archive at Art + Commerce (New York).
While Director of Network Photographers (1989 - 1994),
London's leading independent reportage agency, Stephen chaired the World Press
Photo competition and curated several photographic exhibitions including
Positive Lives which continues to tour in four continents. He went on to develop creative strategies for
major commercial agencies, working as Creative Director of Getty Images and CEO
of Photonica in USA.
As Creative Director of eyestorm.com Stephen worked with many
contemporary artists including Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, Richard Misrach and
others. He has written and broadcast
extensively on the ethics and realities of photographic practice.
Festival of Politics
The exhibition
forms part of this year's Festival of Politics. Now in its fourth year, the
award winning Festival of Politics runs from Wednesday 20 to Saturday 23 August
and features twenty eight sessions many with famous faces from the world of
politics, the arts and the media.
This year's
Festival of Politics is delivered in formal partnership with:
Carnegie UK Trust and the Carnegie Dunfermline Trust
The Law Society
of Scotland
The Scotsman
For public information enquiries,
contact:
0131
348 5000; Textphone: 0131 558 7676, RNID Type talk calls welcome
Email:
[email protected]
Visit our website at: www.scottish.parliament.uk
- Log in to post comments