The World Press Photo is an annual contest open to all press photographers and media outfits. For 2009, the Grand Prize went to Anthony Suau of the USA (Time). From what I gathered, the piece that won did not even make it on the printed magazine but was however shown on Time’s website. His entry covered the mortgage foreclosure of late that affected residents in Cleaveland, Ohio. This and the rest of the photos besting 96,268 hopefuls from 5,208 photographers of 124 different nationalities are currently on exhibit at the Atrium of the SM Mall of Asia from August 17-23, 2009.

The shots that will follow were taken during the opening of the third and final stop of the Philippine leg of the World Press Photo 2009 exhibit held on August 17. (please be patient while waiting for the photographs to load, thanks!)

I’m a huge fan of  journalism, believing that most human interest stories are conveyed more effectively, thus becoming more relevant, when they get published with compellingly vivid photographs on print. Visually “raw” images encourage empathy, at times even moreso than the long article.

Of all the photos on exhibit, Gleb Garanich’s set taken during the bombardment of a neighborhood in Georgia, Ukraine made me realize that I can never accept the kind of assignment he did. I got to thinking that if I’m to take those shots, I may be violating the privacy of the people who are victims of a very unwelcomed catastrophe. “The least I can do is give them space,” is what I’d think and most probably do. That said, I’m not cut for the gutsy job they do day in and out and I admire their kind, the ones who are focused and driven for the greater purpose of creating awareness.

On a related note, hear’s a good read. It’s an article published by Photo District News on Anthony Suau’s winning the grand prize. It is, by itself, also very much worthy to be classified as something of true “human interest.” Spare a few minutes to read the comment exchange made by phographers, freelance or otherwise, after the main article.

If you have the time, during the long weekend, why don’t you drop by the SM Mall of Asia to see the exhibit. While there, look at the Grand Prize photograph closely and you’ll see it was taken during my birthdate last year (Aaaah, satisfaction from the bleak prestige of forced association! It’s just something I can’t resist doing LOL). The World Press Photo website also has the collection of winning photos published online, if you want to check those out, instead.

This exhibit is a project of the Konrad Adenauer Asian Center for Journalism at the Ateneo de Manila University in cooperation with the Embassy of the Kingdom of Netherlands, Business World, Unilever, and SM Supermalls. World Press Photo receives support from the Dutch Postcode Lottery and the contest is sponsored worldwide by TNT and Canon. Thanks, K Villa, for the invite!