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Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
World Press Photo jury apologises for combining photo of Ukrainian girl with Russian soldier
The International Jury and World Press Photo have apologised for combining two works into one visual pair: Underground Field Hospital by Nanna Heitmann and Beyond the Trenches by Florian Bachmeier. Source: a letter in response to an inquiry from Detector Media, a Ukrainian media organisation Details: German photographer Florian Bachmeier captured six-year-old Anhelina from Kharkiv Oblast, who suffers from panic attacks after surviving a Russian bombardment. The work, titled Beyond the Trenches, has, in Bachmeier's view, become the emotional centre of the European bloc. In contrast, German photographer Nanna Heitmann presented a photograph titled Underground Field Hospital, which depicts a wounded militant from the Russian-backed "Donetsk People's Republic" terror organisation who fought alongside Russian forces. "There is an obvious difference between a child suffering from the aftermath of war and the torment of a soldier from the occupying forces who causes this suffering," World Press Photo noted. "We should not have presented these two photographs as a pair, as doing so implies they should be viewed and understood only in relation to one another. This creates an overly simplistic and false equivalence, overshadowing the unique stories each of them tells. These images, in fact, highlight just two aspects of Russia's ongoing war against Ukraine," said Lucy Conticello, the head of the international jury. Meanwhile, the jury has decided not to revoke the prize awarded to Mikhail Tereshchenko, a photographer for the Russian news agency TASS, a key part of the Russian propaganda machine. However, they have pledged to refine the rules and procedures for handling applications from photographers working for government agencies. They plan to consult with photographers from countries such as Georgia and Ukraine, as well as those from nations with repressive regimes, who often strive to produce "good work" under challenging conditions. In the letter, the World Press Photo judges explained that each entry is judged anonymously, with jury members unaware of the photographers' identities or affiliations. In later rounds of judging, only limited information, such as the nationality and gender of the photographer, is provided. Background: The Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers (UAPF) has condemned the results of the World Press Photo 2025 international competition. They stressed that the association had been "surprised" by the choice of the winners and demanded that standards of ethics, impartiality and transparency be observed: "By rewarding Russian photographers who serve as expressors of the state ideology of the Russian Federation, the competition makes the position of the aggressor visible, and thus contributes to the substitution of concepts: instead of condemning the aggressor, it emphasises sympathy for him." The announcement of the winners sparked immediate and heated discussions within the community. Ukrainian photo commentators – Serhii Korovainyi, Yuliia Kochetova and Vlada Liberova – also reacted to the list of winners. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
World Press Photo apologizes for combining photos of pro-Russian militant, Ukrainian child in 'visual pair'
The jury of the World Press Photo contest apologized for pairing photos of a wounded pro-Russian militant from the Donetsk Oblast with a Ukrainian girl suffering panic attacks due to war, Detector Media reported on March 31. German journalist Nanna Heitmann received the World Press Photo 2025 award for her photo titled "Underground Field Hospital," which depicts the wounded militant in the Russian-occupied Donetsk Oblast. Another winner is a photo by German correspondent Florian Bachmeier, who showed a 6-year-old girl, Angelina, lying in her home in Borshchivka in Kharkiv Oblast, suffering from panic attacks after fleeing Russian shelling. The World Press Photo combined the two photos on their website, calling the two images a "visual pair." After Detector Media's request, the jury responded by emphasizing that there is "an obvious difference between a child suffering from the consequences of war and the torment of a soldier of the occupying forces who causes this suffering." The World Press Photo divided the images on its website as of April 1. According to the jury, pairing the two photos suggests that they should be "viewed and understood only in dialogue," which "creates an overly simplistic and false equivalence." The World Press Photo also promised to improve the rules and procedures for dealing with applications from photographers working for state institutions, consult with photographers working in Georgia, Ukraine, and countries with repressive regimes, and try to "do good work in their difficult situations." The World Press Photo is an annual contest for professional photographers in photojournalism and documentary photography. An international independent jury selects the best pieces in global and regional nominations. In 2024, Ukrainian photojournalist Julia Kochetova was announced as one of the 2024 World Press Photo Contest winners for her multidisciplinary project "War Is Personal." Read also: What Russia really wants from the Black Sea ceasefire deal We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
