(Heads up) World Press Photo 2010 results are in

peter_n said:
Yes there are some amazing pictures. You have to wonder about the photo of the year though, while I'm horrified at the dreadful experience of the young woman at the hand of her husband, it's really about the story and not the picture. So many of the other winners and placers stand on their own.
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Ah, the old myth that 'a picture is worth 1000 words'. Without the words, the picture is often worthless, incomprehensible or (at best) enormously diminished. Would the picture be worth more if it showed her husband hacking her nose and ears off?

Cheers,

R.
 
While I don't agree nor disagree with the winning photo I'd like to bring another, personal perspective of my take on it, which is not all "doom and gloom".
To me the photo has two sides - first of all yes, it does show traces of brutality and hints at the well known facts of treatment of women by extreme groups (you don't need a story to see that). But I only spend a few seconds on that part of the story the photo tells. What I think the rest of the time I look at it how much inner dignity and beauty she projects despite her facial "imperfections". And then I don't see the (absence of the) nose at all. And I'm left with feeling of respect for her and hope that if people see her like me she's just a nice girl and not necessarily a legacy of Taliban's inhumanity.

Yes, a lot of photos are shocking and sad, but they also show humans coping. There's enough intricacy in a lot of them to analyze them past the initial "gosh-the-horror" reaction.

Just my 2 cents. I can take or leave WPP, there are plenty of comparable or better endeavors out there, but won't dismiss the genre and the type of photostories.
 
Roger Hicks said:
Ah, the old myth that 'a picture is worth 1000 words'. Without the words, the picture is often worthless, incomprehensible or (at best) enormously diminished. Would the picture be worth more if it showed her husband hacking her nose and ears off?

Cheers,

R.
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When I first saw the photo I thought it might relate to a disfiguring chronic infection - TB can do that. So I needed the explanation.
 
Richard G said:
When I first saw the photo I thought it might relate to a disfiguring chronic infection - TB can do that. So I needed the explanation.
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Dear Richard,

Exactly. A picture PLUS a thousand words (or even 20 or 30) is often worth a lot more than either the picture or the words in their own.

And to me, the picture in question is a beautiful portrait of a girl who, astonishingly, is still beautiful despite the hideous torture inflicted on her. She currently has a prosthetic nose and is apparently going to have reconstructive surgery.

Tashi delek,

R.
 
You know what struck me about the winning photo? That despite being different, It reminded me in an instant about the Steve McCurry photo of the Afghan girl.

I'm actually surprised about the winning photgraph. I thought there were more interesting ones that told more.
 
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