February 12, 2015

WORLD PRESS PHOTO 2015


"WE EXIST TO INSPIRE UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD THROUGH QUALITY PHOTOJOURNALISM."
-About world press photo foundation-

ISTANBUL PROTEST
"12 March 2014 - Istanbul, Turkey : A young girl was wounded during clashes between riot police and protestors after the funeral of Berkin Elvan, a 15-year-old boy who died from injuries suffered during anti-government protests. Riot police fired tear gas and water cannons at protestors in the capital Ankara, while in Istanbul, crowds shouting anti-government slogans lit a huge fire as they made their way to a cemetery for the boy’s burial."


My stomach hurts. My stomach hurts and that's the only thing I know right now. My eyes are wet. My eyes are wet filled with tears of hate, sadness, incomprehension, vulnerability, inconformism and impotence. My mind is blown. My mind is blown in the most pejorative and disgusting way you can imagine. This is not ok. This is not fine. This is not going to stop happening unless we do something to change it. 


MONKEY TRAINING FOR A CIRCUS
"29 November 2014: A monkey cowers as its trainer Qi Defang approaches during training for a circus in Suzhou, Anhui province, China. With more than 300 circus troupes, Suzhou is known as the hometown of the Chinese circus."

EBOLA IN SIERRA LEONE
"23 November 2014 - Freetown, Sierra Leone: Medical staff at the Hastings Ebola Treatment Center work to escort a man in the throes of Ebola-induced delirium back into the isolation ward from which he escaped. In a state of confusion, he emerged from the isolation ward and attempted to escape over the back wall of the complex before collapsing in a convulsive state. A complete breakdown of mental facilities is a common stage of advanced Ebola. The man pictured here died shortly after this picture was taken.//In 2014, an outbreak of the lethal Ebola virus arrived in the small West African country of Sierra Leone. The outbreak began in the remote forest regions of neighboring Guinea, where a young boy contracted the disease and set in motion the largest outbreak in history.//Sierra Leone, like Guinea and Liberia, was unprepared and ill-equipped to deal with the outbreak. With health care systems that failed to adequately address basic medical issues, citizens were uniquely susceptible to this deadly pathogen. It swept through the country with a fury, killing entire families and preying on those kind enough to care for the sick."

 COOL BLOOD COLOMBIA
"30 April 2014 - Here in the so-called "hall of sacrifice," a worker’s job is to kill caimans with a knife cut to the neck.//Farm breeding of caimans has emerged as a result of intensive poaching that led to the extinction of some species. In Colombia, breeding has exponentially grown over the past decade, and the country is one of the few South American caiman exporters. Thousands of skins are produced annually for use in the fashion industry in Asian and European markets."

 BEACH CASUALTIES
"16 July 2014 - Gaza City, Palestine: Israeli artillery struck a beach in Gaza City during the country’s 50-day war with Hamas in the summer of 2014, killing four young boys and injuring one young adult. Two explosions, separated by about 30 seconds, targeted the area, striking a small shack on a sea wall and then in the open on the sand. Civilians rushed the casualties away from the area, and then ambulances responded to the scene."

JON AND ALEX
"18 May 2014 - St. Petersburg, Russia: Jon, 21, and Alex, 25, a gay couple, during an intimate moment. Life for lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) people is becoming increasingly difficult in Russia. Sexual minorities face legal and social discrimination, harassment, and even violent hate-crime attacks from conservative religious and nationalistic groups."

¿Should we just observe this pictures, get angry for two days, yet continue with our lives?

or

¿Should we feel a burning fire inside of us and a big desire for changing the world? 


To know more about world press photo winners and causes click HERE.

To make a change start with yourself. Question everything. Watch everything. Read everything. Photograph everything. Research and find a cause you belive in. Every little thing helps. But how? 

Here are some ideas:


Join Change
Join Cruz Roja
Join Indiegogo
Join UNICEF
Join MSF


Education is power. Education is freedom.

Educate yourself, free yourself. 

Love, Janira x