Image of two Gaza children killed in Israeli strike wins World Press Photo prize
Swedish photographer Paul Hansen snags top photojournalism award for haunting image captured during Palestinian children’s funeral; violence in the Middle East a dominant theme in the competition. (Explicit images)
Personal feedback on some of the comments
- Using just the one frame he used software which produced several versions of the image with varying tonal ranges, some with more contrast, some with less, which when combined made a picture that overall had a much higher tonal range than the unprocessed “raw” image. This is known as a high dynamic range or HDR photograph.This is what I usually do with my paintings
- The chairman of the World Press competition judges, Santiago Lyon, director of photography at the Associated Press, has said of all the winners: “We are confident that the images conform to the accepted practices of the profession.” What are the unaccepted practices on imagery in photography or painting?? Othere than not moving pixels?
- However, it does appear that more extreme post-production
techniques, such as HDR, are now to be allowed in photojournalism competitions…I believe that eventually with more digital software options photographs will be manipulated with all means of human and digital creativity and will be accepted and praised.
- I wasn’t really complaining, more that the impact of the image seems somewhat lessened by the technique. The
novelty of the technique, in the context of photojournalism, detracts from the ‘message’
I think.
- although I wouldn’t use the word distasteful. It gives it an
unworldly quality, but then I’m not sure making it ‘artistic’ (if that’s the word) necessarily makes it questionable. Agree
- At worst you could say it looks like a student bedsit poster or an album cover for a left-wing rock band. Either way, the overall effect is to place the picture’s value as a work of art or propaganda before it’s value in documenting a real event and the sorrow and rage in the faces of the men clutching their tiny dead children. it remains an artwork or a piece of art if we concider photography a form of fine art and contrasts with photojournalism.
- It expands the distance between them and us, it encourages you to concentrate on the image and not the suffering and the death. As I mentioned before it’s a mean of art that is meant to convey a specific message with documenting an event. There will always be a tension in photography as a medium between the desire to document the truth and the desire to create art. This tension has created many unforgettable images, that have changed both the visual and political landscape on occasion. So is photography a form of art???
- Agreed. This isn’t even a subtle use of HDR, it’s like something you’d see in one of those amateur online competitions. It’s foul. Really???
- and that cheapens the impact of a very powerful scene. It seems that im not into photography this much that I am a bit confused and won’t be able to judge!! It’s technically clever but it is blurring the boundary between fact (the image captured here) and fiction (what could be simply generated on a computer). And that is a dangerous, dangerous idea
for photojournalism. is this considered an art piece or a photojournalist image??
All these comments arouse the same question… it photography considered a form of art??
I personally see this photo as a form of art, digitally manipulated in the way the artist finds appropriate, depicting a tragic moment that is taking place in Gaza. Technical issues shouldn’t be the focal point, however may be added as a further analytical aspects in regards to art criticism.
Ala'a B. 