The annual World Press Photo is back in town, displaying the most powerful images produced in the past year within a series of pin board-filled rooms. Still free, it remains the best value of any annual exhibition on Brisbane’s calendar.
Recently I'd seen Robert Yager post about the sad dangers of photo journalism in Mexico. In May this year a fifth journalist in a month Marco Antonio Avila Garcia was found tortured and murdered in plastic bag on the side of the road with a note left from a drug cartel.
Seeing this exhibition today really put into perspective the precision, skill and courage a lot of the photos in the World Press Photo Exhibition required to be shot this year. These photographers risk their lives to tell stories that may never been heard without their bravery.
We are lucky to live in a country and city with such a thriving arts culture. Not only is this exhibition free to the general public but we are literally free from persecution to see it with our own eyes. I truly believe we do need to see these things with our own eyes and be aware of the world surrounding us. My eyes welled with tears at the sight of a lot of these photographs and they really reached me on a profound level.
Voice for a voice, tooth for a tooth! Activists of FEMEN tried to steal the ballot box into which twenty minutes earlier Prime Minister Putin put his ballot, apparently marking “V” against his vile name. The purpose of the action “Steal for Putin” is to clearly accuse the Kremlin gang in distortion of the electoral process through manipulative rigging of the results. FEMEN makes a call to the international community not to recognize the Kremlin’s ”triumph” victory of Putin, and to the Russian people – to trump heavily on the tail of Kremlin rats. Participants of the action – Ukrainian citizens Anna Deda, Oksana Shachko and Irina Fomina were grabbed and taken to the Moscow’s Gagarin district police station. Activists are ready for any “legal” assessment of their action, up to the initiation of the criminal case.
Do yourself a favor and get out and see this great exhibition to celebrate these photographers in their accolades while it's running from now until June 24th. Be warned though that there are some very confronting images in this exhibition that are not recommended for those under the age of 15. For those with a serious interest in documentary photography, you will not want to miss viewing this exhibition held each year at the Powerhouse.
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