Tomasz Lazar's winning photograph from the United States of Debt series
Two Polish photographers are among the 57 winners honoured in this year's edition of the most recognised photojournalism competition in the world
The jury of the 55th edition of World Press Photo chose the winners in all nine major categories from among 5,247 photographers from 124 countries submitting 101,254 images. Tomasz Gudzowaty was given the 3rd prize in the Sports category for his Lucha Libre at La Loba, a photo essay on free wrestling in Mexico City. Tomasz Lazar was awarded second prize in the People in the News category for his October 2011 photograph depicting the arrest of protesters in Harlem, New York, during a demonstration against police tactics and income inequality.
The grand prize of the competition - World Press Photo of the Year 2011 - was awarded to Spain's Samuel Aranda for his photograph of a woman holding a wounded relative in her arms after he was injured during clashes between protesters against President Ali Abdullah Saleh in Sanna, Yemen, in October 2011 (published in the New York Times). The documentation of a global wave of protest was a reoccurring subject among the majority of submissions and winning entries, such as the images of bloody protest against Egypt's Mubarak and then jubilation after his fall taken independently by Alex Majoli, Jan Dago and Eduardo Castaldo and Rémi Ochlik and Yuri Kozyrev's portraits of opposition fighters in action in Libya. The jury also awarded a Special Mention to an image of a Libyan National Transition Council fighter pulling Muammar Gaddafi onto a military vehicle shot in Sirte, Libya in October 2011.
Polish photographer Tomasz Lazar's winning photograph shows a young woman continuing to shout even as she is escorted in handcuffs by police as part of ongoing protests in New York against the nation's high unemployment rate and the power wielded by global banks and multinational corporations. The photograph is part of a series Lazar calls the "United States of Debt", showing protestors blocking the entrance to the Police station in Harlem. Tomasz Lazar was born in 1985 in Szczecin. He studied computer technology at the University of Technology in West Pomerania and later he studied at the European Academy of Photography, earning a diploma under the guidance of Izabela Jarszewska and Tomasz Tomaszewski. He has been nominated for a number of international photography awards, winning major prizes in national competitions, as well as honourable mention in the Sony World Photography Award for Architecture in Cannes and the International Photography Award in Los Angeles (both in 2009). His work has been exhibited across Poland and, most recently, at the 2011 IPA Best of Show group show in New York.
The images of global revolution present a very real picture of the determination and violence that drives societal change in various areas of the world, together with the humanity, tenderness and tragedy these movements entail. The annual World Press Photo contest is known to set the standard in photojournalism and its jury is made up of experts and editors from the news and photojournalism industry from across the globe.
Image rom the winning Lucha Libre at La Loba series by Tomasz Gudzowaty
World Press Photo also covers other areas in the news, from the most striking images of war and uprising to light-hearted shots of Dakar Fashion week in the Arts and Entertainment category (winning entry by Vincent Boisot) and socially-minded portraits of feminists speaking out against sex tourism in the Ukraine (winning entry by Guillaume Herbot) and disturbing truths on child marriage in Yemen photographed by Stephanie Sinclair. Poland's Tomasz Gudzowaty won for his black-and-white series of masked luchadores in the Chimalhuacán district of Mexico City, who compete in a form of free wrestling that has become increasingly popular in the country. Gudzowaty (born in 1971 in Warsaw) earned a degree in Law from the University of Warsaw before dabbling in nature photography and evetnually turning to social documentary and sports photography. He has made a name for himself documenting popular sports in far corners of the world, which depict a rare blend of tradition and modernity in global cultures. His work has been published in various global publications, including Time, Photo and The Guardian, and won international prizes, including Pictures of the Year and NPPA Best of Photojournalism. This year's win marks his 12th World Press Photo win (previous wins in1999, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2011). This month Warsaw's ZPFAF Gallery is hosting a show of his Beyond the Body series.
See images from the Beyond the Body Series
This year the jury awarded prizes in nine themed categories to 57 photographers of 24 nationalities from: Afghanistan, Argentina, Australia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the USA. Awards will be given at a ceremony on the 21st of April, 2012, accompanied by a two-day programme of lectures, discussions and displays. The show of award-winning photographs opens to the public at the Oude Kerk, Oudekerksplein in Amsterdam on the 20th of April, 2012. The show will then travel the world, stopping in 105 venues in 45 countries, including Poland.
Poland's photographers have had quite a few successes throughout the history of the World Press Photo Contest, including: Roman Pieńkowski (1956), Zygmunt Wdowiński (1957), Henryk Grzęda (1962), Stanisław Jakubowski (1969), Tadeusz Trapanowski i Krzysztof Niemiec (1975), Józef Czarnecki (1981), Leopold Dzikowski i Grzegorz Rogiński (1985), Chris Niedenthal (1986), Jan Morek (1986), Radosław Sikorski (1989), Witold Krassowski (1992 i 2003), Maciej Skawiński (1998), Rafał Milach (2008), Kacper Kowalski (2009), Filip Ćwik (2011).
World Press Photo also sponsors an annual Multimedia Contest, currently open for submissions. Winners will be announced on the 15th of March, 2012.
World Press Photo receives support from the Dutch Postcode Lottery and is sponsored worldwide by Canon.
For more information on Tomasz Gudzowaty, see: www.gudzowaty.com
See more on Tomasz Lazar at tomaszlazar.pl
See gallery of all winning entries in the 55th edition of WPP: www.worldpressphoto.org
Source: press release