The traveling World Press Photo Exhibition for 2000 has covered a lot of ground, presenting some of the defining moments of 1999 to audiences all over the world. On tour since June, the exhibition opens at Taipei's Taiwan Museum tomorrow, coming to the venue for the second consecutive year thanks to sponsorship from the Premier Foundation.
The photos on display were selected from 42, 215 submissions handed in by 3,981 photographers from 122 countries. According to Semke Rotteveel, the curator of the exhibition, in selecting the World Press Photo of the Year, the jury was looking to find a defining image for the 20th century. The face of a refugee on the streets of Kukes in Albania, battered but unbowed, silent yet powerfully expressive, took the prize. "The image is not bound by time or place," Rotteveel said. Claus Bjorn Larsen, the photographer described the circumstances in which it was taken: "... nobody knew him. He couldn't say anything, he just stood looking at me. Then he walked off into the crowd and we never saw him again." A bleak image of what the 20th century has achieved.
Although 34 Taiwanese photographers submitted work for the World Press Photo Exhibition 2000, none managed a repeat of Taiwan native Chang Chien-chi's (
"The best photos are those that show the involvement of the photographers," Rotteveel said.
Commenting on the lack of Taiwanese presence in international festivals such as World Press Photo, press photographer Chen Cheng-chang (陳正昌) said that Taiwan's media environment did not lend itself to high-quality work. Shooting everything from political gatherings to theatrical performances, often in the same day, he said, leaves little chance to achieve arresting images.
Chen also pointed out that Taiwan's formerly repressive political environment hampered participation in exhibitions of this sort. "Mostly, photo exhibitions served propaganda purposes," he said, so many photographers refused to participate.
This year, Taiwan is represented by one image, a shot of the rescue efforts after the 921 earthquake, second prize winner in the general news category. "In portraying the East, it is always novelty or horror that appeals," Chen said, suggesting that even outstanding exhibitions like the World Press Photo show reflected a Western perspective.
"After all, they invented the language [of press photography]," he said.
Control of this language of photography has also proved to be an issue within the World Press Photo foundation. At a panel discussion related to the current exhibition, published in the foundation's newsletter, Grazia Neri, president of the Agenzia Grazia Neri, pointed out the risk of "the homogenization in visual communication."
Referring to the US preeminence in press photography in the last century, he said, "The fact that Americans were so clever in editing stories has meant that history is seen more through American than European eyes." With its international jury, Rotteveel said that the World Press Photo exhibition has sought to avoid this kind of bias. But with so many photos and issues, it is hardly surprising that some countries feel under-represented.
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