That's not entirely correct. I have the World Press Books going back to about 1983 and the awards are in sections ranging from spot news, to sport to daily life. I've been going to the exhibition every year for many years, and there is a lot of funny and uplifting stuff there as well as the bleak. It's the bleak that we tend to remember, and it's often the bleak that wins the overall award because it usually covers the main news story of the year, which is almost always a tragedy of some sort.
Having said that, there was a lot of criticism a few years ago because there had been a run of rather Biblical-looking grieving women photos. Still, I don't blame the photojournalists for that. Take a lot at Western Art over the last 2,000 years and tell me it isn't full of blood and gore. Eugene Smith was the worst of the lot (so to speak) for exploiting 'classic themes' in his photography - the pieta and the deposition from the cross spring to mind in respect of 2 of his most famous photos. And he did it quite intentionally, of course. -- Cheers, Bob > -----Original Message----- > From: Rick Womer [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: 05 October 2005 15:14 > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: 50 years of photojournalism > > Intense, and unrelievedly bleak. For some reason, judges of > photojournalism seem to lean heavily toward disease, death, > and destruction. Yet, some of my favorite PJ portfolios deal > with much more everyday things--W Eugene Smith's work leaps > to mind. He wouldn't have stood a chance before these judges. > > Rick > > --- Godfrey DiGiorgi <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > Some intense photographs... > > > > Godfrey > > > > > > > > > __________________________________ > Yahoo! Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005 http://mail.yahoo.com > > > >
