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>> The World Press Photo exhibit returns

WORLD PRESS PHOTO OF THE YEAR: Spencer Platt, Beirut

by PATRICK LEJTENYI

Of all the disasters, catastrophes and wars in 2006, the 34-day pounding Lebanon took from Israel in July and August was among the most covered and hotly debated. American photographer Spencer Platt, shooting for Getty Images, captured in one frame both the devastation of a city still rebuilding from its brutal civil war and the progress it had made, now wasted: a group of young, seemingly well-off and Westernized Beirutis, surveying the carnage from the inside of their convertible, on the first day of the Israeli-Hezbollah ceasefire. That photo, shown above, won the World Press Photo of the Year for 2006.

The annual World Press Photo exhibit returns to the Just for Laughs museum this month for another offering of the best photojournalism as selected by a panel of international judges. Almost 4,500 photographers submitted over 78,000 images for selection. Only a few dozen were chosen.

But this year, the WPP exhibit will be joined by three others. There will be a 60-year retrospective of the best of Magnum Photos, the international agency known for its daring, groundbreaking and, at its best, iconic photography, a series of four multi-media presentations and a series of images of the Canadian boreal forest, taken from the air by eight Canadian photographers, each from a different province.

For Louise Larivière, whose company, Reporters Communications, is running the event, hosting the WPP and its attendant exhibits is a labour of love—with an emphasis on labour. She says she spent an estimated $100,000 putting the event together, including $15,000 to rent the WPP exhibit. Negotiating with Magnum in New York was also a chore, as some photographers were more reluctant to loan their work than others. The Montreal exhibit’s unique lighting and placement also added to costs.

MAGNUM MOMENT: Stuart Franklin, Tiananmen Square, 1989

She says her organization receives no government subsidies. “If it becomes pretentious and intellectual, then you’ll get grants,” she says. “If a photo needs three books to be explained, then it becomes art.” She’s proud to be focusing exclusively on news—untouched, unaltered and immediate.

Admittedly, image after powerful and often disturbing image of world events can be a hard sell. Larivière structured the exhibit accordingly. For the first time, it’s spread over three floors, with the museum’s third and fourth floors hosting the WPP and Magnum photos and the multi-media exhibit. The fifth floor will house the boreal photos. There are photos of clear-cutting, she says, but not all the photos are grim. “It’s a bit of a breather,” she says. “I have a responsibility not to send people out into the street crying.”

The World Press Photo event runs from
Friday, Aug. 31 to Sunday, Sept. 30 at the
Just for Laughs Museum (2111 St-Laurent,
$5 students, $9 adults). See www.worldpressphoto.org or www.worldphotomontreal.com for more information.