Photos from journalists around the world shed light on current events, raise awareness

AMMAN — The World Press Photo 16 exhibition opened on Friday to shed light on the importance of press freedom and the free flow of information.

Laurens Korteweg, director of exhibitions and education at the World Press Photo Foundation, said the exhibition — open through December 1 at Dar Al Anda — is aimed at “creating awareness on different aspects of life” and reminding the people of current events.

The exhibition, organised by the World Press Photo Foundation and the Dutch embassy, has toured 100 cities in 45 different countries so far, giving people the opportunity to reflect on the current developments around the world, Korteweg said.

“The visitors can trust what they see; they can rely on information presented. They are not afraid that the information is biased, sensitive, or fake. All the stories in this exhibition are carefully researched, because we believe we need information that we can trust,” he said at the opening of the exhibition.

The recent developments taking place in the world highlight the importance of the need to transmit trustworthy information, Korteweg argued.

“The World Press Photo [Foundation] believes that this information needs to be seen, to be known [and] talked about… awareness is the first step to change. These photos are the perfect tool to create awareness,” he continued.

“We worked with different categories: sports, news, daily life [and] contemporary issues, but what you see coming back all the time is the story of the refugees, maybe 25 per cent of the exhibition is dedicated to them.”

In the exhibition, which features the works of 42 international photographers, different aspects are depicted, including children harmed by war and people fleeing their homes by boat or land, Korteweg said.

The participating photographers are from Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Iran, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Portugal, Russia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Turkey and the US.

Another important side seen in the photographs is pollution and the environment threatened by people.

“Photojournalists are very courageous human beings; most of the time, they are working very hard but there is not a lot of money to be earned… But they want to show the people that photos are not the result of the camera, it’s the human being pushing the camera,” Korteweg told The Jordan Times.

He added that the photographers behind the exhibited photos are “the world’s eyes, since people cannot go everywhere, but we can look at newspapers and media outlets to become aware; this is something we need”.

Dutch Ambassador to Jordan Paul van den IJssel said pictures can say more than a thousand words, and photojournalism is a very important instrument to disseminate information and the concept of freedom of expression and speech.

“It is a story that’s not always nice to see, but it is important that we hear it and listen to it,” he told The Jordan Times.

The exhibition also highlights the beauty of photography, concerning nature, animal life and family issues, the ambassador said. 

Amman Mayor Aqel Biltaji, deputising for HRH Princess Rym Ali, said the pictures tell a personal story and an experience that had an impact on both the photographer and the people involved in the photos.

“I had an experience myself with photos on November 10, 2005. Every single newspaper had a shot of the Grand Hyatt [Amman Hotel]… [This] will always remind me of what terror can do and probably made me more determined than ever to fight terror,” he said.