The World Press Photo Joop Swart Masterclass is a five-day workshop that brings some of the most promising and emerging young photojournalists with six prominent photo editors, photographers and curators to discuss technical, journalistic and ethical aspects of their work.

This year, the masterclass will be held from 11 to 15 November in Amsterdam. The 12 photographers selected include Cemil Batur Gökçeer, Turkey; Maja Daniels, Sweden; Bieke Depoorter, Belgium; Ilkin Huseynov, Azerbaijan; Tatiana Ilina, Russia; Jia DaiTengFei, China; Hajime Kimura, Japan; Sofie Amalie Klougart, Denmark; Dhruv Malhotra, India; Muhammed Muheisen, Jordan; llvy Njiokiktjien, The Netherlands; and Anastasia Rudenko, Russia.

It's the first time in at least 10 years that no photographers from the US or the UK have been selected for the masterclass [at the time of writing, BJP was unable to obtain the list of participants in the pre-2003 editions of the Joop Swart Masterclasses].

This year's 12 participants were chosen from among 165 candidates nominated by the World Press Photo's 18 international committees. A final panel of jurors that included photographers Alex Majoli and Dana Lixenberg, as well as Time's international picture editor Patrick Witty, Silvia Omedes of Photographic Social Vision, and Maria Mann of European Pressphoto Agency made the final selection.

In a statement, they say: "You're looking for photography that is not something that a lot of other people can do, but for work that transcends this. It's not enough just to like someone's aesthetic; there must also be something surprising about it. We're looking for another layer. We want to be moved, surprised, excited... There must be some tension, the sense that someone is taking a chance."

They add: "You don't want to see repeated formulae, but photographers who are being themselves. We're looking for someone who will be open to the dynamic of the whole process...who is curious about where they are going, who can perhaps take their work to another level during the masterclass."

The 12 participants will have to produce a photo essay around the theme of 'Trust' ahead of the November masterclass. "The essays will be discussed with the masters and edited into a publication co-published with Schilt Publishing," says World Press Photo.

For more details, visit the World Press Photo website.