USC Annenberg Presents World Press Photo 05
December 24, 2005 | Senay TOPCUOGLU
World Press Photo 05, the acclaimed exhibition of more than 200 award-winning works of international photojournalism will be presented by the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California from January 9-30, 2006.
A press conference will open the exhibition at 11:30 am on Monday, January 9, 2006 in the East Lobby of the USC Annenberg School, 3502 Watt Way, Los Angeles. A public reception follows.
World Press Photo is the world's largest and most prestigious annual press photography contest. USC Annenberg is the only U.S. venue outside the United Nations in New York to host the traveling exhibition. The school also was selected as a site for last year's exhibition.
"It's an honor to hold the World Press Photo exhibition at USC Annenberg again this year," said Geoffrey Cowan, USC Annenberg dean and former director of the Voice of America. "World Press Photo not only represents the best in photojournalism, but it also can be seen as a historical document of the world's major events of the year."
"The World Press Photo exhibition at USC Annenberg provides a wonderful opportunity to bring the year's greatest achievements in press photography to students, faculty, and members of the Los Angeles community," said Larry Gross, USC Annenberg communication school director and an expert in visual communication. "This ongoing partnership with World Press Photo is important for those of us who are committed to supporting the practice of journalism and, particularly, photojournalism."
The independent, international jury of the 48th annual World Press Photo contest selected an image by Indian photographer Arko Datta of Reuters as World Press Photo of the Year. The photograph depicts an Indian woman mourning the death of a relative killed in the December 2004 tsunami catastrophe. The picture was taken in Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu, on December 28, 2004.
World Press Photo jury chairman Diego Goldberg, an Argentinian photographer, described the winning image as "a true spot news picture with a strong photographer's point of view." According to jury member Kathy Ryan, photo editor of The New York Times Magazine, Datta's photograph is a "graphic, historical and starkly emotional picture."
"Photojournalism provokes conversation and thought, which all good journalism should do," said Michael Parks, the former editor of the Los Angeles Times and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting who now directs USC Annenberg's School of Journalism. "The exhibition provides an excellent teaching opportunity, fostering discussion about how we cover events of our time and the needs of society, while talking about the profession and craft of journalism."
This year, the World Press Photo contest broke two records: the number of photographers and the number of photographs entered. Some 4,266 professional photographers from 123 countries entered 69,190 images in the competition. It also was the first time that the judging was completely digital. The jury gave prizes in 10 theme categories to 63 photographers of 24 nationalities.
Categories featured are spot news, general news, people in the news, sports action, sports feature, contemporary issues, daily life, portraits, arts and entertainment, and nature.
The exhibition of approximately 200 award-winning photographs will be seen by more than a million people in 85 venues around the world. All prize-winning images are exhibited without any form of censorship.
Hours for the exhibition will be Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. It will be closed on Monday, January 16. The exhibition will be housed in the main lobby of the USC Annenberg building on USC's University Park Campus.
USC Annenberg will host lectures and discussions relating to the exhibition that will be open to the public. For updated information, please visit http://www.annenberg.usc.edu
World Press Photo receives support from the Dutch Postcode Lottery and is sponsored worldwide by Canon and TNT. Local sponsors of the World Press Photo 05 exhibition at USC Annenberg are Getty Images and the Los Angeles Times.
For more information on the exhibition, visit http://www.annenberg.usc.edu or http://www.worldpressphoto.nl
To see the winning photos please visit The Winners Gallery 2005
About the USC Annenberg School for Communication
Located in Los Angeles at the University of Southern California, the USC Annenberg School for Communication is among the nation's leading institutions devoted to the study of journalism and communication, and their impact on politics, culture and society. With an enrollment of more than 1,900 graduate and undergraduate students, USC Annenberg offers Bachelors, Masters, and Doctoral degrees in journalism, communication, public diplomacy and public relations. For more information, visit http://www.annenberg.usc.edu.
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