(Heads up) World Press Photo 2010 results are in

[Phantomas]

Let the $h!T-slinging begin :)
My favourites are a bunch of Poles this year.

Enjoy:

http://www.worldpressphoto.org/index.php?option=com_photogallery&task=blogsection&id=21&Itemid=292&bandwidth=high

[Arjay]

Thanks for the link! Wow, there are some amazing, and some very painful pictures. My favorite is the sports story, 2nd place - Mexican car frenzy. Breathtaking BW.

[peter_n]

Yes there are some amazing pictures. You have to wonder about the photo of the year though, while I'm horrified at the dreadful experience of the young woman at the hand of her husband, it's really about the story and not the picture. So many of the other winners and placers stand on their own.

[Bob Michaels]

RFF'ers: don't even bother clicking the link. There is nothing there but some of the best photos make in 2010. No discussion about the cameras or lenses used at all.

[Colin G.]

Thanks. Amazing photos. The 3rd place spot in general news is really powerful.

[Neare]

All really good work in there!

Though, the suicide jump photo - does anyone else think something looks wrong with the shot, as if the person was shopped in post? Second curtain flash perhaps however, there is no shake of the person throughout the sparks. The entire image exhibits camera shake except for the falling person, seems odd.

[Sparrow]

The severed head is a bit strong

[Phantomas]

I'm usually quite impartial to the "Stories" part of the competition (in all categories). I think "Nation Mourning" (3rd prize People Stories) is quite good. But there many good ones indeed.

[Phantomas]

RFF'ers: don't even bother clicking the link. There is nothing there but some of the best photos make in 2010. No discussion about the cameras or lenses used at all.

The winning photo was shot on Nikon D3 :D


PS: Oh, this thread made it to official RFF news. I'm now sorry about my crude intro post, but oh well, WPP usually DOES attract quite some heated discussions. This one should be no exception. Actually I think the winning photo will get even more heated responces this year (there was already quite a heated debate when it was published on Time magazine cover in August. Round 2).

[dave lackey]

Jeez, just looking at the follow-up posts... nothing for me to link to as I do not like that kind of sensationalism in photography.:mad:

[Fabian]

While I think that these are all great pictures, I am a bit worried that most of them tell a cruel story. Are there no good things happening on earth worth taking a picture?
Or do shocking pictures just sell better.

Regards Fabian

[david.elliott]

No positive, upbeat, or uplifiting images? Good, dramatic photography need not be all tragedy and sorrow.

[dexdog]

just think how good these pictures could have been if shot with the Fuji X100!

Seriously, some really good images in there; many are very grim, though. I thought that several of the sports photos would quality as uplifting, poetry in motion, or just plain elegant.

[PatrickONeill]

All really good work in there!

Though, the suicide jump photo - does anyone else think something looks wrong with the shot, as if the person was shopped in post? Second curtain flash perhaps however, there is no shake of the person throughout the sparks. The entire image exhibits camera shake except for the falling person, seems odd.

I noticed that, I figured it was a bystandard's flash. lighting the body during free fall.

[Pickett Wilson]

More Doom & Gloom. Next.

[ibcrewin]

I think some of these tell important stories that would have otherwise been overlooked. The shoot out in Rio, the Earthquake in Haiti, Pakinstan's floods, Drug Wars in Mexico. All of it is stuff that we don't see here, it's cleansed to some degree by the 6 o'clock news.

Think about the photographer that had to go through somalia to escape with these refugees, or the one that covered the juvinilles in prison in sierra leone. The least you can do it listen, or look as it may be.

[keithdunlop]

RFF'ers: don't even bother clicking the link. There is nothing there but some of the best photos make in 2010. No discussion about the cameras or lenses used at all.

This is about the IMAGES, not the equipment used to capture them.

I think some of these tell important stories that would have otherwise been overlooked. The shoot out in Rio, the Earthquake in Haiti, Pakinstan's floods, Drug Wars in Mexico.

I agree! I submitted my Haiti portrait series, and although I didn't win, I would have thought we'd see some Haiti imagery in the final results.

[ibcrewin]

I agree! I submitted my Haiti portrait series, and although I didn't win, I would have thought we'd see some Haiti imagery in the final results.

Haiti images won in a few categories. I'm actually a little surprised by their choice for photo of the year.

[keithdunlop]

My bad -- I went through the selections too quickly. Daniel Morel's series of images taken minutes after the quake are featured. Really remarkable images!

[ibcrewin]

Seriously.

[jsrockit]

This is about the IMAGES, not the equipment used to capture them.

He was being sarcastic...

[Roger Hicks]

Yes there are some amazing pictures. You have to wonder about the photo of the year though, while I'm horrified at the dreadful experience of the young woman at the hand of her husband, it's really about the story and not the picture. So many of the other winners and placers stand on their own.

Ah, the old myth that 'a picture is worth 1000 words'. Without the words, the picture is often worthless, incomprehensible or (at best) enormously diminished. Would the picture be worth more if it showed her husband hacking her nose and ears off?

Cheers,

R.

[Phantomas]

While I don't agree nor disagree with the winning photo I'd like to bring another, personal perspective of my take on it, which is not all "doom and gloom".
To me the photo has two sides - first of all yes, it does show traces of brutality and hints at the well known facts of treatment of women by extreme groups (you don't need a story to see that). But I only spend a few seconds on that part of the story the photo tells. What I think the rest of the time I look at it how much inner dignity and beauty she projects despite her facial "imperfections". And then I don't see the (absence of the) nose at all. And I'm left with feeling of respect for her and hope that if people see her like me she's just a nice girl and not necessarily a legacy of Taliban's inhumanity.

Yes, a lot of photos are shocking and sad, but they also show humans coping. There's enough intricacy in a lot of them to analyze them past the initial "gosh-the-horror" reaction.

Just my 2 cents. I can take or leave WPP, there are plenty of comparable or better endeavors out there, but won't dismiss the genre and the type of photostories.

[Richard G]

Ah, the old myth that 'a picture is worth 1000 words'. Without the words, the picture is often worthless, incomprehensible or (at best) enormously diminished. Would the picture be worth more if it showed her husband hacking her nose and ears off?

Cheers,

R.

When I first saw the photo I thought it might relate to a disfiguring chronic infection - TB can do that. So I needed the explanation.

[Roger Hicks]

When I first saw the photo I thought it might relate to a disfiguring chronic infection - TB can do that. So I needed the explanation.

Dear Richard,

Exactly. A picture PLUS a thousand words (or even 20 or 30) is often worth a lot more than either the picture or the words in their own.

And to me, the picture in question is a beautiful portrait of a girl who, astonishingly, is still beautiful despite the hideous torture inflicted on her. She currently has a prosthetic nose and is apparently going to have reconstructive surgery.

Tashi delek,

R.

[ibcrewin]

You know what struck me about the winning photo? That despite being different, It reminded me in an instant about the Steve McCurry photo of the Afghan girl.

I'm actually surprised about the winning photgraph. I thought there were more interesting ones that told more.

[deirdre]

I just want to know how much gore these folks passed up.

I have a strong stomach, but it was wrenched.

[Paddy C]

Some interesting images locked in an awful user experience and presented in small sizes.