Josie, the in-laws and me, went to see the WORLD PRESS PHOTO 2011 exhibition yesterday. For those who are unfamiliar with it. It's the year's greatest hits in photojournalism. Needless to see, this year was more bleak and hopeless than the preceding. Here are my favorites, those that caught me off guard and made me appreciate the life I have. I'm not too big into that "life lesson" thing. I am very good at appreciating what I have, so imagine how deep these photos had to pry to get to me.
1-The Urban Cave - Words aren't really necessary here. You know me enough to know as much. Josie and I are discussing the possibility of buying one of these and framing it in our living room. It hit somewhere special. The man reading on the train tracks here is homeless.
2- Man & Child in Pakistan - Taken during the Pakistani flood earlier this year. I don't need to explain how ghastly and gripping this is? It's a real life re-enactment of GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES right there. Despair and fear don't have an age limit and you can understand it right there.
3-Kim Jong-Il & Son - Time's a bully, motherfucker. Isn't it?
4-Sudanese Man - Look in his eyes. Look at the life you can read on his face, in the lines of his skin. He's a child of war and yet a man and a warrior. There are many years to this photos. Suffering and a world of history, war stories and atrocities. I have rarely seen a gaze that told as much, without saying any words.
Here you go. Not a top five, not a top ten, but just the photos that shook me up. Hopefully they disturbed you a little bit also. Because you know what they say...a picture is worth a thousand...