For the first time in Hanoi, people have a chance to witness press photos which have won this year’s World Press Photo award, the world’s highest distinction in the field. A total of about 176 photos of about 60 reporters from various countries are on display at the Viet Arts Gallery at 96 Hang Trong street, Hanoi. These photos are valuable documents on the main events of 2002.

The photo which won the special prize of Eric Grigorian, a reporter from Armenia, captured the funeral ceremony of those died during the earthquake as strong as six degrees on the richter scale in Qazvin province, Iran on June 23, 2002. Amidst people who are burying their relatives, the image of a boy with big open eyes full of grief, crying by his father’s grave, holding his father’s clothes, makes viewers feel the immense loss of the boy in the picture.

In a year with many happenings events like the year of 2002, the earthquake, which caused the deaths of about 500 people, was a big event. However, the photographer did not illustrate the scale of the event, focusing instead on a single human aspect of the tragedy, bringing sympathy of the viewer.

It seems that the way of looking at things and the perception of the photographers are the key criteria of the World Press Photo 2002’s jury board. Prize winning photos are those with high information and artistic quality.

One work in the photo reportage which won the first prize of Carolyn Cole shot civilians and soldiers of Palestine sheltered in church in Nativity when Israel fighters were occupying Bethlehem. In the photo, a Palestinian policeman gets exhausted due to hunger and thirst.

Most of the photos on display not only depict events but also provide information on the events by their nature and their consequences. The photo of Patrick Andrade shooting a boy picking up scattered small pieces of pit-coal under the truck on a street in Kabul is an example. This is also shown in a photo of a woman who was exhausted and frightened after a kidnap in Moscow. Just a small detail can tell many things, like a long story.

The exhibition opens until December 10.

Reprinted with permission from Nhan Dan Newspaper