The award-winning photograph Signal will feature among the 150 photographs at the 57th World Press Photo Exhibition which opens at the chq Building in Dublin today.
Dublin's Docklands will host the past year's top works of photojournalism, with the World Press Photo of the Year by John Stanmeyer – which was shot for National Geographic and features African migrants in Djibouti raising their mobile phones skywards to capture cheaper service from neighbouring Somalia – one of the centrepieces.
This year the competition for the most prestigious award in photojournalism saw more than 98,000 pictures submitted by 6,000 photographers from 132 countries. The 53 finalists that make up the exhibition were selected by an international jury, with all photos taken during 2013. Judging took place in February.
Stanmeyer's Signal took top honours for its portrayal of contemporary human migration. "The jury saw a combination of mankind's everlasting desire to stay in touch with loved ones, but in a very modern context of mobile phones and technology," said Eamonn Kennedy, director at the Journalism, Law and Rights Forum and curator of the exhibition in Ireland.
Mr Kennedy said he considered the event a journalism exhibition, not a photography exhibition. “Some of the best journalism is in the form of photos,” he said. “What is important is what story it tries to convey.”
After the exhibition closes in Dublin on November 15th, it will open at Queen's University Belfast from November 18th to 23rd – the first time the World Press Photo Exhibition will be held in Northern Ireland in the competition's 57-year history.