World Press Photo Contest

The international jury of the 52nd annual World Press Photo Contest selected a black-and-white image by American photographer Anthony Suau as World Press Photo of the Year 2008. The picture shows an armed officer of the Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Department moving through a home in Cleveland, OH, following eviction as a result of mortgage foreclosure. Officers had to ensure that the house was clear of weapons, and that the residents had moved out. The winning photograph, taken in March 2008, is part of a story commissioned by Time magazine. The story as a whole won Second Prize in the Daily Life category of the contest.

Says jury chair MaryAnne Golon of the image: “The strength of the picture is in its opposites. It’s a double entendre. It looks like a classic conflict photograph, but it is simply the eviction of people from a house following foreclosure. Now war in its classic sense is coming into people’s houses because they can’t pay their mortgages.”

Anthony Suau received his award during an awards ceremony in Amsterdam in May 2009. The award carried a cash prize of 10,000 euro and, in addition, Canon gifted a Canon EOS 5D Mark II camera to Anthony.

The jury gave prizes in 10 theme categories to 64 photographers of 27 nationalities from: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, France, Germany, Greece, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, El Salvador, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine and the United States.

An exhibition of prize winners was shown at the Oude Kerk in Amsterdam from May—June 2009 and was subsequently shown at over 100 locations around the world. For more information about World Press or to see a provisional exhibition schedule see: www.worldpressphoto.org/exhibitions. World Press Photo receives support from the Dutch Postcode Lottery and is sponsored worldwide by Canon and TNT.