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American Wins World Press Photo of the Year 2008

Photographer Anthony Suau Selected for Prestigious Award

Feb 24, 2009 Cecily Layzell

A black-and-white image by the American photographer Anthony Suau has been chosen as World Press Photo of the Year 2008.

A black-and-white image by the American photographer Anthony Suau has been selected as World Press Photo of the Year 2008, the international jury of the 52nd annual World Press Photo Contest announced on February 12.

The image shows an armed detective from the Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Department in Cleveland, Ohio. With his weapon raised, the man moves through a house following an eviction, as a result of foreclosure, to check that the premises are clear of weapons and the residents have left.

The image, which is part of a story commissioned by Time magazine, where Suau has worked as a contract photographer for 20 years, was taken in March 2008.

MaryAnne Golon, jury chair and former director of photography at Time, said the strength of the picture lies in its opposites. “It looks like a classic conflict photograph, but it is simply the eviction of people from a house following foreclosure. Now war in its classic sense is coming into people’s houses because they can’t pay their mortgages.”

Winning Entries on Tour

Suau will be presented with his award at an awards ceremony in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, on May 3, 2009. The award is accompanied by a €10,000 (approximately $12,750) cash prize and a Canon EOS 5D Mark II camera, the latter donated by Canon.

All the winning entries for the contest, which were selected from a record 96,268 submissions, will be exhibited in Amsterdam’s Oude Kerk (Old Church) from May 4 to June 28, 2009. The exhibition will then tour to over 100 locations around the world. Further details of the locations and dates of the tour can be found here.

Life Imitating Art

Suau was born in the United States in 1956. He has devoted much of his career to portraying the effects of international events on human lives. He has documented humanitarian crises, such as the famine in Ethiopia, as well as the conflicts in Chechnya, Rwanda and Iraq.

Suau recently bought a house in Brooklyn, New York but said in an interview that the economic crisis has made finding work difficult. He fears he may have to find another job or leave his newly purchased home, not unlike the people in his award-winning image.

The first World Press Photo Contest was held in 1955 and, with only a few exceptions, has taken place every year since. Through the contest, the World Press Photo foundation aims to promote photojournalism around the world and stimulate creativity among photojournalists.

The copyright of the article American Wins World Press Photo of the Year 2008 in Photography is owned by Cecily Layzell. Permission to republish American Wins World Press Photo of the Year 2008 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.