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Foreword to World Press Photo 08

 The international jury of the 41st annual World Press Photo Contest selected a color image of the UK photographer Tim Hetherington as World Press Photo of the Year 2007. The picture was taken 16 September 2007 and shows a US soldier resting at “Restrepo” bunker, named after a soldier from his platoon who was recently killed by insurgents.

The 2nd Battalion Airborne of the 503rd US infantry is undergoing a deployment in the Korengal Valley in Eastern province of Afghanistan. The valley is infamous as the site of downing of a US helicopter and has seen some of the most intense fighting in the country. Hetherington’s photograph is part of the picture story that was also awarded 2nd Prize in General News Stories. He had traveled to Afghanistan on assignment for Vanity Fair.

“This image represents the exhaustion of a man – and the exhaustion of a nation,” says jury chairman Gary Kight, and adds, “We’re all connected to this. It’s a picture of a man at the end of a line.” Fellow juror MaryAnne Golen commented, “I use all my energy to have people notice bad things. There’s a human quality to the picture. It says that conflict is the basis of this man’s life.”

This year, a record number of participants from 125 countries sent in their work - a total of 5,019 photographers, which is an increase of 12.5% compared to 2007. The total number of images submitted is 80,536.

The jury gave prizes in 20 theme categories to 59 photographers of 23 nationalities from: Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Japan, People’s Republic of China, Poland, Portugal, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, USA and Zimbabwe.


The 2008 Jury:

Chair: Gary Knight (UK); Photographer and Chairman; VII Photo Agency
Jodi Bieber (South Africa); Photographer, Noor
Oliver Chanarin (South Africa/UK), Photographer Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin
Erin Elder (Canada), Photo Editor, The Globe and Mail
Craig Golding (Austraila), Photographer, Sydney Morning Herald
MaryAnne Golon (USA), Director of Photography, Time Magazine
Maria Mann (USA), Managing Editor, European Pressphoto Agency

Enric Marti (Spain), Regional Photo Editor, Latin America & Caribbean, The Associated Press
Michael Nichols (USA), Photographer, National Geographic Magazine
Simon Njami (Cameroon), Independent Curator
Swapan Parekh (India), Photographer
Stephan Vanfleteran (Belgium) Freelance Photo Editor
Sujong Song (South Korea), Freelance Photo Editor
Secretary: Stephen Mayes (UK), Chief Operating Officer, The Americas, Image Source