World Press Photo Exhibition headed to Cronkite School’s First Amendment Forum from Jan. 17 – Feb. 7, 2020.
The World Press Photo Exhibition, the acclaimed global press photography exhibit, will return to downtown Phoenix after more than a 25-year absence. The First Amendment Forum, inside the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University, will host the exhibition.
New York City’s World Press Photo Exhibition ended this summer, making Phoenix and Washington, D.C. the only remaining American cities on the exhibition’s current schedule (showing through March 2020). The prize-winning pictures visit about 100 cities in 45 countries over the course of a year, and are seen by more than 4 million people.
The Phoenix exhibition will be open daily to the public from Jan. 17 through Feb. 8, 2020, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 12-6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Opening ceremonies at the First Amendment Forum, at 555 N. Central Ave., will be held Thursday, Jan. 16 and will feature Phoenix political, business and arts leaders. The program will include remarks from Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego and Netherlands Consul General Gerbert Kunst. Tickets can be purchased here.
The exhibition and ceremonies are made possible by local partnerships with Tuft & Needle, Downtown Phoenix Inc., Davis Miles McGuire Gardner PLLC, The Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Bank of America and CCBG Architects.
Public relations and creative marketing agency Kiterocket, and Vanderzee & Associates, an executive search firm — both with international headquarters located in the Phoenix metro area — spearheaded the endeavor to bring World Press Photo back to the Valley. Their efforts include all fundraising, strategic marketing and publicity, and planning and coordination with the Netherlands-based World Press Photo, Arizona-based vendors and government officials. Additionally, the City of Phoenix and Mayor Gallego’s office, as well as ASU’s Cronkite School, continue to be instrumental in bringing the global event to downtown Phoenix.
The exhibition is comprised of submissions from the 2019 World Press Photo Contest, awarding photographers for the best images in the world of visual journalism over the past year. It is the world’s leading contest for professional press photographers, photojournalists and documentary photographers.
This year’s contest saw 4,738 photographers from 129 different countries enter 78,801 images. An independent jury composed of leading photography professionals selected the winning pictures.
The six images shortlisted for World Press Photo of the Year were: Victims of an Alleged Gas Attack Receive Treatment in Eastern Ghouta by Mohammed Badra (Syria); Almajiri Boy by Marco Gualazzini (Italy); Being Pregnant After FARC Child-Bearing Ban by Catalina Martin-Chico (France/Spain); The Disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi by Chris McGrath (Australia); Akashinga – the Brave Ones by Brent Stirton (South Africa); and Crying Girl on the Border by John Moore (United States). Moore’s picture was judged to be Photo of the Year.
A new category in this year’s contest and exhibition is “Story of the Year,” and is defined as photography that uses visual creativity and skills to produce a story with excellent editing and sequencing to capture or represent an event or issue of great journalistic importance. The three nominees for the World Press Story of the Year were Marco Gualazzini (Italy); Pieter Ten Hoopen (Netherlands/Sweden); and Lorenzo Tugnoli (Italy). Hoopen’s The Migrant Caravan won the inaugural honor.
About World Press Photo
Since 1995, the World Press Photo Contest has recognized professional photographers for the best pictures—presented as singles or in stories—contributing to the past year of visual journalism. World Press Photo is an independent, nonprofit organization based in Amsterdam. Read more about the organization, the contest, the photos and the history by visiting worldpressphoto.org.