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Photojournalists honored at Annenberg reception

Images of nature, Iraq and post-9/11 are featured in the World Press Photo Tour.

Nicole Dailo

Media Credit: Michael Sugarman | Daily Trojan Picture perfect | Spencer Platt, along with several other prolific photojournalists, presents his

USC's Annenberg School for Communication celebrated the return of World Press Photo, an exhibition of winning photographs from the world's largest and most prestigious photojournalism competition, with a reception attended by many of the featured photographers.

Photographers from around the world submitted approximately 80,000 entries and the winning 200 are featured in the exhibition, which runs until Jan. 31. The images cover a diverse range of subjects, depicting everything from the catastrophic reality of war to the beauty and violence of nature.

Annenberg is one of only three locations in the United States that hosts the traveling exhibition.

"[A winning photograph] has to be relevant, but that doesn't mean it has to be something that's been on the news for a while," said Paul Ruseler, director of the exhibition. "If you look at the last 50 years of winners, you can see that the jury always selects a picture that's more than what happened in just a certain moment."

Winning photographers Spencer Platt, David Butow and Nina Berman showcased their work to an audience of about 225 in the Annenberg Auditorium. Amidst the slideshow of images, those who attended the event had the chance to ask questions and comment about what they saw.

"I like to think that as a photojournalist, I get to put people at ease, that I have a commitment to their story and their lives and what they're going through," Platt said during the reception.

His photograph of Lebanese youths driving through the devastated streets of Beirut was proclaimed the World Press Photo of the Year, the competition's highest honor.

Butow echoed Platt's view, explaining that photojournalism is primarily about capturing the course of society and people's lives.

"To me, it's all about photographing the human condition, and sometimes that involves dramatic fast changes. But sometimes it's a more gradual change," he said.

Butow's work includes photographs from recently modernized China, as well as pictures of the aftermath of Sept. 11. His winning work depicts a group of people walking along a street corner in New York City right before the fifth anniversary of the Trade Center attacks.

Berman's photography primarily contained images of soldiers wounded in the Iraq War. She said that she wanted to humanize current war coverage.

"I couldn't see myself sitting in my apartment, and becoming this consumer spectator of the war," she said. "It's become very personal to me because of the people I've met."

Students present at the exhibition said looking at the featured images made them more aware of domestic and international affairs, and helped them see past their own stable, comfortable lifestyle.

"It' a chance to catch up on what's been happening in the world," said Yuliya Tsukerman, a senior majoring in humanities with an emphasis in music. "The events are powerful."

Geoffrey Baum, assistant dean of public affairs and special events at Annenberg, said that the exhibition gives students the chance to examine communication in the form of images.

"It brings exposure to the world and what's happening throughout the U.S., not only the suffering that's going on but also the triumphs," he said.

Annenberg began hosting the event in 2005, when the Los Angeles-based winner of World Press Photo of the Year wanted to show his work locally.

Ruseler said that Los Angeles, and USC in particular, is an ideal venue for the exhibition because of the diversity and culture of the city.

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