Gruner + Jahr | Hamburg, 04/29/2019

G+J Presents Best Press Photos Of the Year

4,738 photographers from 129 countries submitted a total of 78,801 pictures to the World Press Photo Contest 2018. Now, the winning works are being presented in the World Press Photo Exhibition. The German premiere opened last Thursday at the G+J headquarters in Hamburg. John Moore’s World Press Photo of the Year is also on show.

In striking pictures, the World Press Photo Exhibition 2019 presents last year’s most important events – topics that were much discussed and that moved many people. Last Thursday evening, the German premiere opened at the G+J headquarters on Hamburg’s Baumwall. The works of 43 award winning photographers from 25 countries are on show. Pictures from eight categories remind us of last year’s big conflicts, but also present spectacular motifs from society, nature, and sports. A total of 4,738 photographers from 129 countries submitted 78,801 photographs to the world’s largest and most important international press photography contest.

In an interview with “Stern” Editor-in-Chief Florian Gless, two of the award winners talked about the creation of their photos on Thursday in Hamburg: Olivia Harries captured Ireland’s struggle to overturn anti-abortion laws; Catalina Martin-Chico photographed former female FARC fighters, who were finally able to have children following the peace treaty with the Columbian government and the end of the guerilla war. They received first and second prize honors in the category “Contemporary Issues, Stories”. According to curator Sanne Schim van der Loeff of the World Press Photo Foundation, their work shows what it means for women to have control over their own bodies.

The jury selected a photo by American photographer John Moore as “World Press Photo of the Year”. It shows a girl crying as she and her mother are taken into custody on the US border to Mexico. Many children were separated from their parents following President Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy. Although Yanela and Sandra Sanchez were able to stay together, the picture caused a public outcry over the practice and Trump reversed the policy. But it also triggered discussions, which Editor-in-Chief Florian Gless picked up on Thursday evening: “The desire for dialog and transparency are the task of every modern editorial office today,” he emphasized. G+J understands itself as an open house and invites everybody to enter into a public discourse about journalism.