THE HAGUE, February, 12. /TASS/. Russian photographers Sergey Ilnitsky and Sergey Ponomarev are among the winners of the international World Press Photo contest. The results ofthe contest were announced in Amsterdam on Thursday.
First prize in General News category
The first prize in the General News category was obtained by Sergey Ilnitsky for the photo “Kitchen table” made in Donetsk. “This sad photo tells us in an unusual way about the events happening in Ukraine. There is a simple kitchen table with fruits and a cup of tea, but broken glass and a blood spot tell us that something is going wrong here. There are no people in the picture and it gives the impression that each of us can be sitting at this table and can find himself in the same situation. In our point of view the picture tells a lot and helps understand what civilians feel having got under such conditions. That is the reason why we awarded the first prize to the author of the picture”, a member of the World Press Photo jury Pamela Chen tells TASS.
Ilnitsky has also got the second prize in the Sports Stories category. His series of pictures “Conquering speed” illustrates ski jumpers during the Ski Jumping World Cup in Russian Nizhny Tagil.
Second winner
Sergey Ponomarev has obtained the third prize in the General News category with a series of pictures “Gaza conflict”. “This story helps understand the essence of the conflict. The pictures are very impressive and are made under difficult conditions,” Chen highlights.
An intimate image of a gay couple by Danish photographer Mads Nissen has been crowned the World Press Photo of the Year 2014.
Process of the contest
During the selection 17 members of the jury have seen 100 thousand images made by thousands of photographers from 131 countries. Forty-two photographers from 17 countries have won the contest. The photos will be exhibited during the whole year in more than 100 cities all over the world.
World Press Photo is the most prestigious photo contest. It is aimed at supporting and developing high standards in photo-journalism and photo-documentation. The Prize has been awarded since 1955.