World Press

Winners are up. And it's nice to see so many friends, and friends of APAD, amongst the winners. A huge congrats to Chris Detrick, Ben Lowy, Travis Dove, Justin Maxon, Carolyn Drake and Carol Guzy!!

Also, the international jury of the 51st annual World Press Photo Contest selected a color image of the UK photographer Tim Hetherington as World Press Photo of the Year 2007. The picture was taken in September 2007 and shows a US soldier resting at "Restrepo" bunker, named after a soldier from his platoon who was recently killed by insurgents. The 2nd Battalion Airborne of the 503rd US infantry is
undergoing a deployment in the Korengal Valley in the Eastern province of Afghanistan. The valley is infamous as the site of downing of a US helicopter and has seen some of the most intense fighting in the country. Hetherington's photograph is part of a picture story that was also awarded 2nd Prize in General News Stories. He had traveled to Afghanistan on assignment for Vanity Fair.

"This image shows the exhaustion of a man - and the exhaustion of a nation," says jury chairman Gary Knight, and adds "We're all connected to this. It's a picture of a man at the end of a line." Fellow juror MaryAnne Golon commented: "I use all my energy to have people notice bad things. There's a human quality to this picture. It says that conflict is the basis of this man's life."

This year, a record number of participants from 125 countries sent in their work, a total of 5,019 photographers, which is an increase of 12.5% compared to 2007. The total number of images submitted is 80,536. Of all participants 80% chose to enter the contest by uploading their work online.

8 February 2008 by Melissa Lyttle

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