"I hope you were surprised," said Robert Pledge, the chairman of the World Press Photo jury, when announcing this year's winner for the best news photo of 2000.
Surprise is, indeed, what most felt when viewing Lara Jo Regan's picture of the Sanchez family in their Texas home at the World Press Photo exhibition, which opens at Taipei's Eslite Gallery today. The American photographer's color image does not fit the mold usually associated with the award, now in its 44th year. The winning picture this year is not an image from a conflict or disaster zone, but one highlighting the long-running problem of illegal immigration, a subject which the jury predicted may become one of the main issues of the 21st century. As if to emphasize this point, Jodi Bieber and Matias Costa were awarded first prizes in other categories for their coverage of the same subject in South Africa and Spain respectively.
Although the nine jurors were unanimous in their decision, not all viewers will agree with them. Regan's shot for Life magazine may be technically perfect, but it hardly tells a story on its own. The viewer needs to read a few lines of caption to give it context -- that it was shot in Texas, not on the other side of the Rio Grande, or that the family portrayed does not show up in the official US census records. It is debatable if her's was even the best illustration of illegal immigration, considering the strength of the black-and-white images of Bieber and Costa.
On the other hand, the winner of the Children's Award -- a young, one-legged Afghan land mine victim hopping over a stream in a desolate landscape -- speaks for itself.
Apart from the two main awards, the jury handed out prizes in 18 theme categories, selected from more than 40,000 pictures submitted by nearly 4,000 photographers from around the world.
The two main news stories of last year, the ongoing intifada in the Palestinian territories and Russia's crackdown in Chechnya each garnered three prizes. And even in these images the lack of blood is noticeable.
It appears the jury wanted to make a break with the past and give less prominent attention to the horrors of conflicts and more to photographers who show a creative and original approach to their subjects.
Although nearly 30 photographers from Taiwan entered the competition, none managed to win a prize. But, as the shot of Elian Gonzalez being dragged out of a closet won a minor prize, one can only speculate as to the photos that may come out of the ongoing custody battle over Iruan Wu (
Photographers working in China were slightly more successful -- the Associated Press coverage of both the crackdown on the Falun Gong and of a Beijing sports school caught the jurors' eyes. These shots marked a rare success for the news services. Chung chien-min's (
Whether one agrees with the jurors or not, the World Press Photo exhibition is not to be missed for anyone with an interest in photography, news or a snapshot of the state of the world.
Exhibition Notes
What: 2001 World Press Photo exhibition
When: Today until July 29, from 11am to 10pm daily exept Monday.
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