World Press Photo 09

Pre-order the Exhibition book here

2008 was quite the depressing year, if the World Press Photo Exhibition is anything to go by. The devastating earthquake in China, the conflict in Georgia and of course the global financial crisis. The celebratory features were Beijing Olympics and Obama's victory (tell me you don't giggle at this photo), but generally this year's exhibition is filled with confronting world events.

Don't let that stop you heading over to the State Library (and quickly! The exhibition ends on May 31st), because while confronting, the images are beautifully composed and moreover they're very informative.

A couple of stand outs (my titles):
- Eviction from Manaus
- Beijing Blood
- Mongolian Jockey
- 9,400 years in the making

If you do make it to the State Library, be sure to sit and watch some of the interviews with the photographers, they're really very enlightening. World Press Photo of the Year winner Anthony Suau seems particularly moved by how he came about his shot. Callie Shell also answers some questions you may have about 'staging' her Obama photos. In other words, I highly recommend you check out the exhibition! Or if not, this montage on SMH is quite lovely.

Turns out a picture really does tells a thousand words and the World Press Photo collection is truly stunning (in all senses of the word).