World Press Photo exhibition showcases the year’s best photojournalism at the Canadian War Museum

MEDIA RELEASE

Ottawa, Ontario, July 22, 2021 — The Canadian War Museum is celebrating the power of visual journalism with the award-winning images from this year’s World Press Photo Contest. World Press Photo – Exhibition 2021 features 159 outstanding large-format photographs documenting current events, armed conflict, social issues and natural phenomena of global importance. This year’s winners include Canadian documentary photographer Chris Donovan.

“We are pleased to be hosting the annual World Press Photo exhibition for a 13th time, highlighting creative, high-quality photojournalism that encapsulates the year 2020,” said Caroline Dromaguet, Director General of the Canadian War Museum. “As in previous years, the winning photographs reflect multiple perspectives and interpretations of headline news from around the world, including insights into contemporary conflicts.”

The World Press Photo Contest is the leading international competition for professional press photographers, photojournalists and documentary photographers. This year’s competition drew 74,470 photographs by 4,315 photographers from 130 countries. An independent jury honoured 45 photographers from 28 countries in eight categories: Contemporary Issues, Environment, General News, Long-Term Projects, Nature, Portraits, Sports and Spot News.

COVID-19 featured prominently in the news and in the contest. Danish photographer Mads Nissen won World Press Photo of the Year for The First Embrace, which shows an 85-year-old Brazilian woman in a long-term care home being held close by a nurse through a “Hug Curtain.” This moving image captures the elderly woman’s first embrace, following five months of limited physical contact and restrictions on outside visitors.

Canadian winner Chris Donovan, who is based in Toronto and New Brunswick, took First Prize in the category Sports, Stories, for Those Who Stay Will Be Champions. The project follows a high school basketball team in Flint, Michigan, and highlights a culture of basketball excellence in a city struggling to survive.

In 2021, the prize-winning images will be seen by an estimated 4 million people in 120 cities in 50 countries. World Press Photo – Exhibition 2021 is developed and circulated by World Press Photo, and is presented at the Canadian War Museum in partnership with the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The World Press Photo Foundation is supported by its global partner, the Dutch Postcode Lottery, and its partners, Aegon and PwC.

The winning photographs will be on display in the War Museum’s Barney Danson Theatre from July 23 to August 15, 2021. Access to World Press Photo is included with general admission, and all visitors must book a timed ticket in advance. For more on the Museum’s current safety measures, and to book tickets, please visit warmuseum.ca.

Following its Canadian premiere in Ottawa, the exhibition will travel to Chicoutimi.

This presentation contains subject matter that some visitors may find disturbing.

The Canadian War Museum is Canada’s national museum of military history. Its mission is to promote public understanding of Canada’s military history in its personal, national and international dimensions. Work of the Canadian War Museum is made possible in part through financial support of the Government of Canada.

The World Press Photo Foundation, which organizes the annual competition, is a non-profit organization committed to supporting and advancing high standards in photojournalism and documentary storytelling worldwide. Its aim is to connect the world to the stories that matter by generating wide public interest in, and appreciation of, the work of photographers and other visual journalists, while also promoting the free exchange of information.

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Renseignements — Médias :

Avra Gibbs Lamey
Senior Communications and Media Relations Officer
Telephone: 613-791-0910
avra.gibbs-lamey@warmuseum.ca