I wonder if World Press Photo is peeling away from reflecting the media as it is, and is rather reflecting the media the way we wish it were. Of the 376 images awarded prizes this year, I would be curious to know how many have been published in a paid-for context. Maybe all of them. Maybe. But the overall impression that I’m left with from the 470,214 images that I have seen entered into the contest in the current decade, is that they reflect a form of photojournalism that is now more romantic than functional. — Stephen Mayes, World Press Photo Secretary during his keynote address at this year’s event in Amsterdam

Listen to the audio recording of the whole thing here. And read more excerpts here, including a line from one juror this year who said,”90% of the pictures are about 10% of the world.”

“Over represented: commercial sex, suffering black folk, Muslim women in veils, same sex couples kissing, holding hands

Under represented: middle class, affluent drug users, real sex, personal sex, black culture and expanded vision of black life outside Africa.”

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