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| © Miquel Dewever-Plana |
Three stunning – and very different – pieces of work have scooped top honours in the World Press Photo Multimedia Contest 2013 in the contest's newly defined categories of Online Short, Online Feature and Online Interactive Documentary.
The judging for the third annual contest for multimedia productions took place from 26-31 January 2013 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, with an international jury of experts, chaired by Keith W. Jenkins. The winners were announced on 1 February 2013.
This year, three new categories were introduced to accommodate evolving practices in visual journalism and documentary storytelling and chairman of the 2013 World Press Photo multimedia jury Keith W. Jenkins (Supervising Senior Producer for Multimedia at National Public Radio [NPR], USA) was hugely impressed by the depth and quality of the work, praising all the entries for their high standards, inventiveness and careful attention to detail.
© Pep Bonet/NOOR
Winning first prize in the Online Short category of the 2013 World Press Photo Multimedia Contest was a film entitled ‘Into the Shadows’, directed by Pep Bonet from the NOOR Photo Agency and Line Hadsbjerg.
Winning first prize in the Online Short category was a film entitled ‘Into the Shadows’, directed by Pep Bonet from the NOOR Photo Agency and Line Hadsbjerg. In July 2012, Bonet, Hadsbjerg & José Bautista arrived in Johannesburg, South Africa, with the intention of creating a body of documentary work consisting of written testimonies, pictures and a documentary film of the urban slum buildings in the inner city.
Jury chair Keith W. Jenkins told CPN: “It was one of a handful of entries that made the transition between photography and video virtually invisible. The piece began with wonderful still images that were well photographed, with great framing, and then the story unfolded with great video clips that explained everything that the stills revealed. It was an effortless piece, well constructed, and filmed and shot all in black & white, with immaculate print and superb attention to detail. It was clear to me, and to all the judges, that the production team really understood lighting both for stills and video, and never for a moment did you feel that you were being taken out of the moment – your attention was held the whole time.”
Jenkins added: “It was tight, emotional storytelling at its very best, with an economy of words, great pacing and a clear understanding that you need space and air between thoughts and concepts so they can be processed and sink in. It did all of that and didn’t miss a beat.”
Second prize in the Online Short category went to ‘Living with a Secret’ with photography, video and production by Arkasha Stevenson (Los Angeles Times); the executive producer was Marc Martin. Third prize in this cateory went to ‘Aleppo Battleground’ with images by Jérôme Sessini (Magnum Photos for Le Monde); the producers were Antonin Sabot and Marie Sumalla.
Sinclair wins Online Feature category
First prize in the Online Feature went to Stephanie Sinclair, for her piece entitled ‘Too Young to Wed’. Over an eight-year period, Sinclair has investigated the phenomenon of child marriage in India, Yemen, Afghanistan, Nepal and Ethiopia. Her multimedia presentation synthesises this body of work into a compelling call to action.
© Stephanie Sinclair/VII
First prize in the Online Feature category of the 2013 World Press Photo Multimedia Contest went to Stephanie Sinclair (VII), for her piece entitled ‘Too Young to Wed’. Over an eight-year period, Sinclair has investigated the phenomenon of child marriage in India, Yemen, Afghanistan, Nepal and Ethiopia.
“This was another piece that left us stunned,” Keith W. Jenkins revealed. “The level of nuance and complexity to the storytelling was hugely impressive. Stephanie worked with director and cinematographer Jessica Dimmock and together they tackled a story that started several years ago with stills photography. They picked it back up with video, finding the right characters and allowing them to tell their story with great depth and pacing.”
Jenkins added: “Part of understanding narrative is finding the right story, and here it was enhanced by great audio which really worked in binding the story together as we went on a journey to understand the characters and all their complexities as they tried to understand their place in the world.”
Second prize in the Online Feature category went to ‘Dying For Relief: Bitter Pills’ with photography, video and production by Liz O. Baylen (Los Angeles Times); the executive producer was Mary Vignoles. Third prize in the category went to ‘Dreams on freewheels’ by director, photographer and video editor Yang Enze (the Southern Metropolis Daily); produced by Tan Weishan.
