World Press Photo – Dam Square

I am a bit of a sucker for a photography exhibition so while recently in Holland working on my own photography project, I had to take the opportunity to visit the World Press Photo exhibition in the stunning setting of De Nieuwe Kerk in Dam Square.

World Press Photo is an international press photo contest featuring over 160 photos by 42 press photographers, many of which were taken at events that shook the world and featured heavily on the news but also some that documented incidents that I hadn’t previously read about.

As the walls were not suitable for displaying the large scale images, they were mostly hung from wires attached to the ceiling or on wooden display units on the floor.

One of the images that stood out to me was Earth Kiln (below) by Li Huaifeng. It is of two brothers that live in a cave that has been cut out of a hillside in central China. As well as the interesting story, the photograph has an artistic effect and I actually thought it was a painting.

As well as photos there was  also a digital storytelling contest with some really interesting documentary films on show. One of the films I found captivating was 30 videos all edited together to create a 10 minute timeline mapping the Las Vegas massacre.

I was really impressed with the work on show and glad I made the effort to travel into Amsterdam city centre to pay it a visit. If you happen to be in the area up to 22nd of July and you are a fan of photography then you may want to check it out! Tickets cost €11.00 and entry is free for under 11s. There are also concessions available.