Learning more about the moments

The World Press Photo Foundation champions photojournalism around the world. In addition to their annual awards at the Amsterdam Headquarters, which are comparable to an Olympic gathering, the foundation conducts a series of classes for young and upcoming photographers in the developing world.

I have been fortunate to be involved with the Foundation in the past, and it is a group which believes in the power of the still image. For the past two years, award winners have been interviewed about their work, allowing us a peek into the circumstances beyond the rectangles. This LINK shows a gallery of winners, ranging from a rare portrait of Vladimir Putin to violence in Kenya and Zimbabwe, to the funeral procession of a Silverback in the Congo and land jumping in Vanuatu.

John Moore photographed Benazhir Bhutto’s final rally, and his descriptions of the scene and his sheer fortune to be alive after the explosion ripped mere meters from him are chilling. It’s also, in a macabre way, the epitome of keeping a cool head in a horrifying situation. It’s the first image in the row named stories. Some of the scenes depict violence and turmoil which may be difficult to view.