Have you heard the expression “a picture is worth a thousand words”? It means that a single image can convey multiple complex ideas that need to be explained with a length of words. An image can make you understand the essence of the meaning of something more effectively than a mere verbal description. We can grasp something deeper through images, pictures, or photographs, as in the idea or the story. 

That is why a global platform called The World Press Photo Foundation has been connecting professionals and audiences through trustworthy visual journalism and storytelling since 1955. The World Press Photo Foundation platform is a creative, independent, nonprofit organization based in Amsterdam. The platform was built by Dutch photographers who created a contest and a world-scale exhibition program. Their work attracted many people around the world, which is why they expanded their mission to encourage stories highlighting different perspectives of the world.

The expansion reached our beloved country, Indonesia. The World Press Photo Exhibition 2021, showcasing the best visual journalism of the past year, will open at Erasmus Huis in Jakarta from November 19 to  December 11, 2021. Therefore, the exhibition will go to Yogyakarta, where it will take place at the Pendhapa Art Space from  December 19, 2021, to January 9, 2022. 

This exhibition presents the winners of the 2021 World Press Photo Contest. It was brought to Indonesia with the support of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and Erasmus Huis. Photojournalism plays growing importance because the photos show people what is going on in the world as a reminder of our responsibilities.

The exhibition also represents the Netherland’s strong embrace of the right of cultural expression and the freedom of opinion. The exhibition in Jakarta was opened by one of Indonesia’s most well-renowned literature figures, Goenawan Mohamad. He expressed his fondness for the exhibition as a testimony of universal moments of sympathy with the world. 

In the 2021 exhibition, the contest welcomed 4.315 photographers with 74.470 images from 130 countries. The World Press Photo Contest winners are 45 photographers from 28 countries: Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Bangladesh, Belarus, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, France, Greece, India, Indonesia, Italy, Iran, Ireland, Mexico, Myanmar, Peru, Phillippines, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, and United States.

The independent judges are made up of 28 professional photographers, chaired by Nayan Tara Gurung Kakshapati, selected by the best pictures and stories of 2020. The winners share a diversity of interpretation and perspectives to the urgent issues during the COVID-19 pandemic and social justice protests around the globe: climate crisis, transgender people’s rights, and territorial conflicts. 

The judges selected Mads Nissen’s photograph entitled The First Embrace as the World Press Photo of the Year and Habibi by Antonio Faccilongo as the World Press Photo Story of the Year. Other than those winners, there are eight categories of winners in Contemporary Issues, General News, Environment, Long-Term Projects, Nature, Spot News, Sports, and Portraits.

Indonesia has taken pride as one of the winners this year. A photojournalist from Indonesia named Joshua Irwandi won the second prize in the General News category of his photo entitled “The Human Cost of COVID-19”. He expressed his support to the World Press Photo as one of the pioneers of recognizing the strong will to stop disinformation and breaking down the barriers towards the freedom of the press everywhere.

This exciting and meaningful photo exhibition will be open next year. If you look forward to reflecting on the past year’s events and having a mindful weekend, you might want to schedule your visit to the World Press Photo Exhibition 2021.