American Anthony Suau wins World Press Photo Contest
American Anthony Suau’s stirring photograph of a sheriff’s deputy searching a foreclosed home was declared today the grand prize winner of the 52nd World Press Photo Contest, with judges terming it a “double entendre” representative of the most important issue of 2008: The economic crisis gripping the globe.
Suau’s image, taken for Time magazine, looks at first glance to be a war photo. However, it’s simply a deputy conducting a routine search of a Cleveland home, looking for stragglers or weapons after the owners had been evicted for failing to pay their mortgage.
“It’s one thing to be in a war zone and expect to be confronted with guns and blood and destruction,” Word Press Photo jury chair MaryAnne Golon says in a video reflecting on the winning image. “The whole reason we saw it as a double entendre is because it’s simply for not being able to pay your bills that you have a man with a gun going through your home, and for us that was an amazing thing. At first you think it’s a war image, and then you realize it’s a different kind of war–it’s an economic war.”
Suau’s series of photos on the crisis won second place in the stories section of the Daily Life category.
The single image winner for that category was Salvadoran photographer Lissette Lemus’ tragic photo of children gazing at a young woman–a victim of gang violence–lying dead in a city street.
Other noteworthy winners include Carlos F. Gutiérrez for his awe-inspiring shot of the eruption of Chaitén volcano in Chile, National Geographic photographer Steve Winter for capturing a series of photos of the elusive snow leopard and New York photographer Vincent Laforet for his photos of Olympic divers in Beijing.
There were a total of 63 winners in 10 categories. An awards ceremony is planned for May 2 in Amsterdam.
Some 96,268 photos were submitted by 5,508 photographers, according to World Press Photo, making it a record year for participation and a 19.5 percent increase in submissions over last year’s competition. The participants represent 124 different nationalities, according to the organization.
Click here to see a gallery of the winning images.
Click here to see the entire list of winners.
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