Ukrainian photojournalist, holder of the Order of Merit of the 2nd and 3rd degrees, Yefrem Lukatsky shared how and why he was disappointed by the World Press Photo competition. He criticized it for staging and emotional manipulation.
He writes about this on Facebook.
"Forty years ago, I started collecting World Press Photo catalogs. For me, it was more than just photography — it was fragments of history captured through the eyes of the bravest," Lukatsky shares.
He recalls how he dreamed of getting to the WPP exhibition, inspired by the names of the winners who filmed under bullets, in disaster zones, and during revolutions, when even the slightest fakery or staging meant disqualification.
"It was real documentary photography — honest, tough, important. But something has changed. And it has changed radically," the photographer admits: " I look at the winners of recent years and don't recognize the competition that once inspired me to pursue a profession. These are the best shots of the year? Where is the risk? Where is the courage? Where is the truth?"
In his opinion, everything is simpler now: "You can not be on the front lines. You can frame, add text, create the desired narrative. And win. Photoshop, color filters, dramatic effects - everything is allowed. "This is how I see it," the authors say. But this is no longer documentary photography. Not what we believed in."
He notes that even the full-scale war in Ukraine did not become the central topic for the competition.
"You say there were no worthy works? As a photo editor, I see them every day. They hurt. They are true. They are strong. But they are not chosen. In 2023, in the nominees, there were only a few shots from Ukraine. One is about the flooded Kherson. Weak. We have seen more powerful ones. The other one is I can't even remember. (sorry author) Although there were photos from Bakhmut, where every shot is like a scream, but not for the competition," says Lukatsky.
He recalls this year's winning photo: "This year, the photo from Gaza wins again. Yes, a tragedy. But again, it's staged. For the second time in a row. And again, without real drama, without risk. It's not the reporting that wins, but the pictures. Not the document, but the style. Not the fact, but the emotional manipulation."
At the same time, for three years in a row, there has not been a single photo showing a Ukrainian soldier defending his home:
"The first photo is not a Ukrainian, but a wounded "DPR soldier" at the Bakhmut checkpoint. And again, it's staged... It looks like a fake. And this fake reinforces the dangerous idea: that there is a civil war in Ukraine. But it's not like that. There are no "DPR" soldiers. There is a Russian army. There is an occupation. The second photo is a girl on a bed. And again, it's like a photoshoot for a brochure. A staged photoshoot. And this is a selection from hundreds of real, painful, authentic photos?"
The photojournalist recalls seeing footage for the World Press Photo he once loved: "Which made me who I am. But not for this - a neutered, staged, rigged competition that calls itself the main platform for documentary photography."
As we will recall, Apostrophe previously wrote about how the World Press Photo jury was caught up in a scandal . Then they recognized the best photos of a 6-year-old Ukrainian girl Angelina, taken by German photographer Florian Bachmeier, and a wounded Russian occupier, taken by German photographer Nanna Heitmann, who works for The New York Times and lives in Moscow.
The international jury of the World Press Photo competition later apologized for combining the two winning works into one visual pair. This decision caused considerable resonance, as it could have created a false impression that the stories presented were equivalent.