John Stanmeyer’s winning image
Queen’s University, Belfast, brought the World Press Photo exhibition to Northern Ireland for the first time, from November 18-23, 2014. The prestigious exhibition, organised in partnership with School of Law at Queen’s, and the Journalism, Law and Rights Forum, showcases the most inspiring and high quality photojournalism in the world. The 2014 exhibition comprises the 150 winning images chosen from over 98,000 images submitted by 5,754 photojournalists in 132 countries.
On display at the exhibition includes the World Press Photo of the Year. This year’s winner, selected by the international jury of the 57th annual World Press Photo Contest, is an image by American photographer John Stanmeyer of the VII Photo Agency. The picture shows African migrants on the shore of Djibouti city at night, raising their phones in an attempt to capture an inexpensive signal from neighbouring Somalia—a tenuous link to relatives abroad. Djibouti is a common stop-off point for migrants in transit from such countries as Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea, seeking a better life in Europe and the Middle East. The picture also won 1st Prize in the Contemporary Issues category, and was shot for National Geographic.
Also displayed were the prize-winning images from nine themed categories belonging to 53 photographers from Argentina, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bulgaria, China, Czech Republic, El Salvador, Finland, France, Germany, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Mexico, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Russia, Serbia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, the UK and the USA.
The week-long exhibition was complemented by a series of evening and weekend events exploring journalism, law and rights. Further details about the exhibition can be found here: www.worldpressphoto.org.uk
