- The jury of the 2018 Photo Contest selected Venezuelan photographer Ronald Schemidt’s image as the World Press Photo of the Year
The World Press Photo of the Year
The World Press Photo of the Year honors the photographer whose visual creativity and skills made a picture that captures or represents an event or issue of great journalistic importance in the last year.
The jury, chaired by Magdalena Herrera, awards the prize to Ronaldo Schemidt’s picture entitled ‘Venezuela Crisis’–which also won first prize in the Spot News Single category. The image shows how José Víctor Salazar Balza (28) on fire amid violent clashes with riot police during a protest against President Nicolás Maduro, in Caracas, Venezuela. Salazar was set alight when the gas tank of a motorbike exploded. He survived the incident with first- and second-degree burns. Schemidt (b. 1971) is a staff photographer for Agence France-Presse, based in Mexico.
Magdalena Herrera, director of photography Geo France and chair of the jury, said about selecting the World Press Photo of the Year:
“The photo of the year has to tell an event, that is important enough, it also has to bring questions…it has to engage and has to show a point of view on what happened in the world this year.”
She describes the winning photograph: “It’s a classical photo, but it has an instantaneous energy and dynamic. The colours, the movement, and it’s very well composed, it has strength. I got an instantaneous emotion…”
Jury member Whitney C. Johnson, deputy director of photography National Geographic, also added: “It’s quite symbolic, actually. The man, he has a mask on his face. He’s come to sort of represent not just himself and himself on fire, but sort of this idea of Venezuela burning.”
Jury member Bulent Kiliç, chief photographer Turkey Agence France-Presse, also added: “And there is one small detail in the picture. There was a gun on the wall. It reads “paz’. It means peace. That also makes this picture stong.”
Jury member Eman Mohammed, photojournalist, also added: “It just gives you that sense of more power to the people. To the ones who speak out.”
Also nominated for the World Press Photo of the Year are (in alphabetical order by photographer):
Rohingya Crisis
Patrick Brown, Australia, Panos Pictures, for Unicef
Boko Haram Strapped Suicide Bombs to Them. Somehow These Teenage Girls Survived. – Aisha, age 14.
Adam Ferguson, Australia, for The New York Times
Witnessing the Immediate Aftermath of an Attack in the Heart of London
Toby Melville, UK, Reuters
The Battle for Mosul – Lined Up for an Aid Distribution
Ivor Prickett, Ireland, for The New York Times
The Battle for Mosul – Young Boy Is Cared for by Iraqi Special Forces Soldiers
Ivor Prickett, Ireland, for The New York Times
New announcement process this year
The foundation announced the nominees in each category of the Photo Contest, the Digital Storytelling Contest, and the six nominees for the World Press Photo of the Year on 14 February. All winners, including the World Press Photo of the Year, were revealed at the Awards Show in Amsterdam.
