World Press Photo Review
Posted on Thursday 15 Oct, 2009
REVIEW BY Stuart Crosby, Mayor
13 October 2009
This is a must-see exhibition.
World Press Photo 09 is an exhibition that stimulates and tests your emotions at all levels. You need to put aside adequate time because the more you look at the photos the more you see.
Through my own job I work with press photographers a lot and so much of what we see published in newspapers and magazines is actually staged. This exhibition is a collection of unstaged real events. Going through the photos you witness the good, the bad and the ugly of the human race.
The winning photograph from 2008 shows a policeman holding his gun and walking through a house, but the photo is not about the policeman and his gun - it is in fact about the consequences of last year’s financial collapse and the tragic results of people losing their homes. Many of the photos follow this pattern and they have a different story behind the photo from what you may initially perceive on the surface.
As well as news photographs, there are some great shots of the natural world. A favourite of mine was a collection of eyes from various animals and insects that so graphically depict the intricate detail of evolution. Then there is the expression of the gazelle that has been caught by a tiger - demonstrating the cycle of life from the perspective of the hunter and the hunted. Again the split second of photographic magic which has to be seen to be believed.
There are also dramatic photographs of the human form, particularly in various sports from Olympic high board diving through to boxing. Each photographer has caught human muscle structures and amazing body shapes, demonstrating the intensity, the energy, the concentration of the world’s top athletes.
This exhibition is a tremendous entrée to the Tauranga Arts Festival. The performance programme starts next week and you’ll be able to enjoy music, theatre, dance, writers – and a local photography exhibition too. But don’t miss seeing World Press at Baycourt!
13 October 2009
This is a must-see exhibition.
World Press Photo 09 is an exhibition that stimulates and tests your emotions at all levels. You need to put aside adequate time because the more you look at the photos the more you see.
Through my own job I work with press photographers a lot and so much of what we see published in newspapers and magazines is actually staged. This exhibition is a collection of unstaged real events. Going through the photos you witness the good, the bad and the ugly of the human race.
The winning photograph from 2008 shows a policeman holding his gun and walking through a house, but the photo is not about the policeman and his gun - it is in fact about the consequences of last year’s financial collapse and the tragic results of people losing their homes. Many of the photos follow this pattern and they have a different story behind the photo from what you may initially perceive on the surface.
As well as news photographs, there are some great shots of the natural world. A favourite of mine was a collection of eyes from various animals and insects that so graphically depict the intricate detail of evolution. Then there is the expression of the gazelle that has been caught by a tiger - demonstrating the cycle of life from the perspective of the hunter and the hunted. Again the split second of photographic magic which has to be seen to be believed.
There are also dramatic photographs of the human form, particularly in various sports from Olympic high board diving through to boxing. Each photographer has caught human muscle structures and amazing body shapes, demonstrating the intensity, the energy, the concentration of the world’s top athletes.
This exhibition is a tremendous entrée to the Tauranga Arts Festival. The performance programme starts next week and you’ll be able to enjoy music, theatre, dance, writers – and a local photography exhibition too. But don’t miss seeing World Press at Baycourt!