World Press Photo

Various Artists

Southbank Centre - Royal Festival Hall

Free

Since 1995, World Press Photo has invited press photographers all over the world to take part in their annual competition. Journalistic photographers are asked to capture or represent an area of global news which has been of great importance over the past year. This year, 5,034 photographers from 126 countries submitted 80.408 images. From this, prizes were awarded to 45 photographer from 25 countries.

The images included in the exhibition are the prize winners and contain highly sensitive and delicate material. From images of children covered in blood due to a bomb explosion, to a rhino lying dead, slaughtered for his tusks - the content here is not for the faint hearted and really does open your eyes to the awful state of the world today. The scope of the show varies immensely - from highly intimate and personal portraits to much grander scale political messages. The sheer range of the photographs help universalise the content, and remind us that no matter what, we are all human.

Many of the images leave you questioning 'How, at a time like this, did a photographer manage to capture this moment?' Sometimes, yes, you are left baffled at how someone can photograph extreme pain like this, but more importantly we must be grateful someone does - otherwise there would be no way of witnessing these beautiful and horrific photographs. The power of photojournalism and it's overall effects is nowhere more prevalent than here.

The exhibition itself is laid out in a fairly confusing and disjointed way. We went on a Saturday afternoon and the place was rammed, you could hardly move - so I would recommend getting there in the week if you can. Despite the shoddy organisation and display, this exhibition really does shock, haunt and touch you by its images and for this reason I think it really is an essential exhibition to go and see.