The opening of the exhibition: Friday, the 22nd of January, 7PM

This is the second time Toruń hosts the most prestigious exhibition of the best press photos of 2008. The pictures have been selected by an independent jury out of captures sent in from all over the world. This year’s edition is record-setting, both in the number of pictures submitted and in the number of photographers taking part.

The WORLD PRESS PHOTO exhibition, organized annually since 1955, is continually very popular with the audiences. The competition is open both to single photos and series. The pictures are judged in 10 set categories. This year 5 508 photographers from 124 countries submitted over 96 thousand pictures!

Every year the awarded photos are presented at a post-competition exhibition opened in April in Amsterdam as a part of the prize awarding ceremony. Starting from the following March, the exposition begins its tour of more than 100 cities all over the world.

This year’s exposition includes 196 pictures. Amongst them is the Picture of the Year by Anthony Suau which presents an armed officer walking into a house in Cleveland after its residents had been evicted as a result of unpaid debts. According to this year’s president of the committee, MaryAnne Golon, the jury was unanimous in its conviction that a truly great  press photo should encourage the viewer to think and ask as many questions, as answers it provides – as does this very picture.
This year saw a rise in the interest on behalf of the Polish photo reporters, 104 of whom submitted their works. Amongst the awarded were: Wojciech Grzędziński (3rd prize, Spot News Series category ),Tomasz Gudzowaty (3rd prize, Sports Features Singles category), Kacper Kowalski (2nd prize, Arts and Entertainment category), Justyna Mielnikiewicz (2nd prize, People in the News Stories category) and Tomasz Wiech (3rd prize, Daily Life Singles category). Wiech’s photo project Skawce accompanies this year’s edition of  the WORLD PRESS PHOTO.