Capturing overlooked stories at the 67th World Press Photo
Posted September 27, 2024 5:55 pm.
Last Updated September 27, 2024 11:28 pm.
War, poverty, disease, and climate change are front and center at the prestigious World Press Photo competition in Montreal, which highlights the courage and talent of press photographers.
“This one is kind of unique because not only the photos are great, but every photo describes a story and a reality with real people. And this is why the people are so touched by this exhibition,” said the Yann Fortier, General Director of World Press Photo Montreal.
These powerful works invite viewers to step beyond the headlines and dive into remarkable yet often overlooked stories from around the globe.
For it’s 67th edition, over 60 thousand photos from 130 countries have been submitted, and not one, but two Quebec-based photographers won prizes.
Zied Ben Romdhane and Charles-Frédérick Ouellet were at the Bonsecours Market, on Friday, to share their story with the public and answer their questions.
The event highlights the work of Quebec photographer Charles-Frédérick Ouellet, the first Quebec winner in 25 years, with a series of large-format images photographed during the wave of forest fires in Quebec in the summer of 2023.
“It’s like a multi-layer photograph that expresses a lot about the exhaustion of nature, the exhaustion of the people at work during that specific year, a very specific situation that the climate crisis that we are living at the moment.,” said Ouellet.
Tunisian photographer Zied Ben Romdhane, who splits his time between Montreal and Tunis, won the Long-Term Project award in Africa for his series The Escape.
He will be at Bonsecours Market on Saturday at 4 p.m. to discuss his work on Tunisian youth in the aftermath of the Arab Spring.
The photographer views the award as an honor, but is even more grateful for the chance to raise awareness about mental health issues and the challenges facing future generations of Tunisians.
“I think it gives us as a photographer more visibility,” said Romdhane.
“And the most important thing I think, the subject that we want to talk about is more visible. Today, media is totally different than before. The journalism and documentary photography need this kind of organization like the WordPress photo to give visibility to what we are doing.”
In addition of the 128 award-winning photos, five exhibits are presented on the mezzanine to showcase Quebec talent.
The World Press Photo Montreal exhibition is presented until October 15 at Bonsecours Market.
Over 65,000 people attend this large-scale international exhibition, which has been organized since 1955 by the World Press Photo Foundation, based in the Netherlands.
