Jodi Bieber wins World Press Photo [updated: 5:45pm]
Image © Jodi Bieber / Institute for Artist Management for TIME.
South African Jodi Bieber has won this year's World Press Photo, world's most prestigious photojournalism prize, for her controversial image of an injured Afghan woman
Author: Olivier Laurent
11 Feb 2011 Tags: World press photoPhotojournalismAward ceremoniesAwards
"It's been a very long couple of hours," Jodi Bieber tells BJP in her first interview of the day. "The World Press Photo judges called at 7pm last night, but I didn't tell anyone. It was hard. I'm thrilled. I'm totally surprised - there was an earthquake in Haiti last year, also it was a highly controversial image."
The image of a young Afghan woman made the cover of TIME magazine on 09 August 2010. Before publishing it, Time wrote: "Our cover image this week is powerful, shocking and disturbing. It is a portrait of Aisha, a shy 18-year-old Afghan woman who was sentenced by a Taliban commander to have her nose and ears cut off for fleeing her abusive in-laws. Aisha posed for the picture and says she wants the world to see the effect a Taliban resurgence would have on the women of Afghanistan, many of whom have flourished in the past few years."
The image quickly found itself at the centre of a debate about it legitimacy and the way it had been used by the magazine. But, Bieber tells BJP, "I think it was always a legitimate image. I mean, a woman's ears and nose were cut off. Everyone has a different perspective on this photograph, there's not one perspective, there are thousands. It depends on where your political beliefs are; it depends on the academic nature of your work; there are many different reasons."
She adds: "Personally, I was never unclear about the photograph. The only time I had doubts was after I photographed it. I thought I had failed. Aisha had been photographed before - but I photographed her in a way that she has strenght, she's showing power, not venurability. And I thought that maybe people would expect more from the photograph. I think you're not taken aback by what happened to her at first. You look at her first as a woman and then you see what happened to her. So, I was at first a little worried because it wasn't a traditional way of taking that photograph."
Bieber tells BJP she hasn't been in touch with Aisha since her portrait was published. "She's very well-protected now," she says. "I tried to phone her one time, and left a message, but they never came back to me. But you have to understand that she has to be protected."
The winning image was chosen from among 108,059 images sent by 5691 photographers. For her image, Bieber will receive a cash prize of €10,000 and a Canon EOS body and lens kit.
Jury chair David Burnett said, in a statement, that "this could become one of those pictures - and we have maybe just ten in our lifetime - where if somebody says 'you know, that picture of a girl...', you know exactly which one they're talking about."
Juror Ruth Eichhorn added: "It's an incredibly strong image. It sends out an enormously powerful message to the world, about the 50% of the population that are women, so many of whom still live in miserable conditions, suffering violence. It is strong because the woman looks so dignified, iconic."
Rick Stengel, TIME's managing editor, says: "This award not only recognizes the disturbing impact of this image but the enormous effect Aisha's story has had on the coverage of the war in Afghanistan. The award is a testament to the vital journalism we strive to achieve at TIME and Aisha's image on the cover of TIME has made the picture an icon for the ages. Congratulations to Jodi and also to Aryn Baker for her exceptional reporting on the ground and her moving story about this young woman and her troubled nation."
Bieber's winning image, as well as other winning entries, will go on show around the world for the next year. "It's a new experience," Bieber tells BJP. "And I'm looking forward to it.
Last year, Italian photographer Pietro Masturzo won the top prize for his image of women shouting on rooftop to protest Iran elections results. The winning photograph was part of a story depicting the nights following the contested presidential elections in Iran, when people shouted their dissent from roofs and balconies, after daytime protests in the streets. The story as a whole was awarded first prize in the category People in the News.
It had been selected from among 101,960 images submitted by 5847 photographers. Read our interview with Masturzo here.
For more on Jodi Bieber:
Jodi Bieber's Soweto - 30 May 2010
Sister show - 25 March 2009
Comments
A powerful image and one that needs to be seen by many. It brings to everyone's home the unthinkable atrocities of unchecked, despotic so-called government.
With all due respect for a poignant article and a moving, heart-wrenching photograph, shouldn't "venurability" have been "vulnerability?"
Why is no one complain about the back focus of this photo, sharpen on de right eye and it looks to much of the photo of Afghan women of Steven McCurry
I think it's supposed to reference McCurry's Afghan Girl - an iconic image retold with a different focus.
Not only a badly edited piece, but also an advert for Portrait Professional software. Slightly awkward juxtaposition given the photo, methinks.
I reserve judgement on the photo itself.
Encouraging High Standards in Photojournalism
First a thank you to Jodi Bieber for creating images that restore hope and dignity for all women and for the amazing work she does to empower women. Her work is an inspiration!
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Jodi's portrait of Aisha is a powerful image – an image made with great care, concern and love for the subject. It speaks of unspeakable violence but, at the same time says whatever you have done to me, I have risen above it, my dignity is preserved. So it is not an image of a victim, not an image of a woman who has been abused and looks defeated but, an image of a woman that despite all that others have done to her is still empowered.
It is a moving image to dwell on for that reason. And as with any image in which a woman has been so obviously abused, painful to think of how any human being could inflict such cruelty on another – whether on a stranger, in a relationship or more importantly given how this image has been used: in our wars.
The caption that accompanies the image states that the mutilation was done by the Taliban but this is not the story that others heard. Others who interviewed Aisha heard no mention of the Taliban and Time magazine was the first to carry the story that the injury was inflicted, or ordered, by the Taliban so perhaps this lack of clarity as to the exact facts connected with the image needs to mentioned as it will travel with WPP around the world?
Many have noticed that Aisha's portrait has been taken in a way that makes it reminiscent of a photograph that is already widely known – ‘The Afghan Girl’ by Steve McCurry – which was run on the cover of National Geographic in 1985. Do we know how that resemblance came about? It would be interesting to know how it happened - whether it was spontaneous or thought out in advance.
A final thought. Aisha ran on the cover of Time magazine with the headline “What happens if we leave Afghanistan”. Without a question mark. So the message was this injury is what will happen to the women of Afghanistan if our troops are not there. But as the crime was committed while our troops WERE there, perhaps these facts should all be pointed out given that the cover on which Aisha appeared (and was commissioned for) justified continued troop presence in Afghanistan and thereby, a continuation of the war?
It seems to me that additional information is need to supplement and clarify that provided in the caption in order that the high standards in photojournalism for which WPP is renowned are preserved.
Jenny,
Did you go insane all over a sudden or was it a slow gradual process?
naive, simplistic or basic truth?
As someone who is new to photography + this branch of photography perhaps I am naïve. However, please indulge me. To me this is an impactive image that makes me sad + question humanity. It is that simple. I appreciate the issues of integrity re who inflicted the injuries + the armed forces in afghanistan. However, to contemplate looking at other "levels" seems fatuous.
I would not award anything at all because the photograph although posed, and taken with the full consent of its subject, hides essential information that qualifies it as illustrating the fact that her ears were cut off.
In these circumstances you pin up your hair and tell it like it is, or not at all.
As it is her nostril injury could be the result not of a punishment but of a fight during which the ring in her nose was violently pulled.
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