They have exhibitions of these every year in Edinburgh. Some of the pictures are really upsetting. Also, they make me wonder at the eye of the photographer. Many wouldn't make it past my initial quality review. I must be missing something about them.
This year's lot were much better than last year's, in my view. I particularly liked (*) the set from the US recession.
(*) I know that "liked" is a really crass word. But what to say? They're awesome photos that yank emotion from you. As pictures, they're great. Uncomfortable, but great.
In regard to the quality of some of the images, I think that comes from the awards being both from a press point of view, and that while quality is great if you can get it, the main 'focus' is on the image.
One that springs to mind in that regard is a shot taken at the exact moment of the explosion during the assassination of Benazia Buto, as a picture its poor, but it captures a historic moment in time that no one else managed.
One other factor that is also easy to overlook in this age of digital capture and transmission is that of 35mm film stock that may have been subject to high temperature, humidity, etc and then pushed to high heaven because the photographer was in a situation that needed great caution.
Given that the quality of some of them can, in my eyes, be forgiven for the emotional impact many bring to the fore.
However don't get me wrong, some the shots contain very little (to me) of either value from a reportage perspective or in terms of quality of shot, but that is almost certain to be the case when this many pictures are being looked at.
A few things do also annoy me (one is that Dana Stone's images are missing), mainly the lack of recongintion for two photographers in these awards. The two being Tim Page and Kevin Carter, both of whom produced work of outstanding emotional impact.
Regards
Scaff
