Intense, honest and cruel are all descriptions of the photographs on show at the Third Press Photo Awards, a year's events through the eyes of photojournalists, writes Dena Rashed A man wrapped in a piece of cloth is shown escaping from a fire. His features are not shown, and neither his face. But his silhouette, dark against a palette of orange, shows his solitude in a photograph taken by Amr Abdallah during the Al-Sharabiya fire last year that won second prize in the news category of this year's Third Press Photo Awards held at the Al-Sawy Cultural Wheel Centre in Zamalek. Next to this photograph is the photograph that came third in the news category, a photo of Gamal Mubarak, chairman of the Policies Committee at the National Democratic Party (NDP). However, this is not exactly a photograph of Mubarak junior. Rather, it is an image of his shadow. Speaking into a microphone and pointing to the crowd from behind a poster bearing the banner of the NDP's annual conference, it is easy to see that the image is of Mubarak from his tall frame and features, though this can only be verified by seeing the photograph from close to where the caption can be read. However, while a fire and a political event harvested this year's second and third prizes in the news category, religion topped both and took first prize. With the debate on the banning of the wearing of the niqab evolving over the past few months, Alaa Mohamed had managed to capture the root of this issue that has sparked such a heated debate between moderate religious scholars and those supporting the niqab. When the Sheikh of Al-Azhar, Mohamed Sayed Tantawi, was visiting a religious school, he made it clear that he did not approve of the young girls covering their faces and lifted the niqab of one girl, showing her face. In Alaa Mohamed's photograph this moment has been caught, the girl's face being altered by Photoshop to protect her privacy. The organisers of this year's event have had to deal with various ethical dilemmas, one concerning the photograph by Alaa Mohamed and another a photograph dealing with sexual harassment by Hossam Awaga, which also won a first award from the judging committee. Amr Nabil, vice-president of the Press Photo Awards, explained that, "it is the duty of the photojournalist to take photographs of controversial events happening in public places, whether in the shape of the niqab photo or of sexual harassment. If he did not do so, he wouldn't be doing his job. However, it is also our duty to respect the people in the photographs if we publish them." Nabil said that the faces of both girls had been digitally altered in order to respect their identities. Explaining that he has been spending two hours a day at the exhibition in order to hear people's comments on the photographs, Nabil said that he had noticed that those attending had been keen to protect the identity of the girl shown being groped in Awaga's photograph. "While you couldn't identify her face after it had been altered on the computer, those visiting further scraped away at it, such that now you can only see a white circle where her face is," Nabil said. Awaga's photo is a shocking, but sad, photograph, which goes some way towards illustrating the cruelty of sexual harassment. It needs neither a translator, nor an explanation, and is a photograph in which everyone can see what such harassment is like. Nabil explained that the face of the attacker had been left untouched because "he is a criminal who deserves to be known." AWAGA, who works at the Al-Dostour newspaper, explained that he had taken his photograph on the third day of the Eid holiday in the Al-Foustat Park in Cairo. "Such things happen every Eid in such parks, and those who stop the harassment are usually the parents of the girls," he said, adding that after he had published the pictures in the paper he went back to check the park again and found police cars roaming around the place. However, the police presence came too late as the Eid was over. While photographs of this sort can easily spark controversy, they also open people's eyes to the reality of things, both the readers of the newspapers and those visiting the exhibition. For each month of the year, there are tens of photographs reminding Egyptians of what they may have witnessed, or sometimes missed, throughout the year. In 2009 one event that hit the headlines and received its fair share of photographs was swine flu. From photographs of children wearing masks to ministers shown raiding the bathrooms of a school, there were many photographs on show telling the story of how Egypt had combated the disease. Related to the interest shown in swine flu, this year's competition included a bigger section for the environment, reflecting the increasing attention being given to environmental issues, whether by the man or woman in the street or by the press. Photographers exhibiting at this year's show exhibited remarkable work showing pig farms, slaughter, and even the mass burial of dead pigs that took place in desert areas. While there were many expressive photos that depicted this crisis, the one that won third place in the environment category was by female photographer, Asmaa Wagih from Reuters, whose image showed a small boy standing on a heap of garbage, his belly showing and staring right into the camera. "We knew that the pig farmers in Al-Khousos did not want to get rid of their pigs, but by the time I arrived the situation was already under control, so I decided to take a photograph of this child living with his family and the pigs," Wagih said. Originally a reporter, Wagih found herself drawn to photography after spending three years as a journalist in Iraq. "I started taking photos and realised the value of photography from my work there," she said, adding that what attracted her to the present exhibition was its introduction of new ideas. "Finding a fresh idea that has not been used before is what makes a photograph exceptional. There are photos that look easy to take, but aren't, or rather are only easy to capture if one is in the right place," she said. The contrast between wearing the niqab and wearing casual wear attracted the attention of many photographers, with shots of the contrast between the niqab and beach bikinis managing to find a place in the exhibition. For many photographers, the Nile was an inspiration, though not necessarily in the traditional sense of felucca boats and lovers sitting by the river. Instead, photographs were on show of boys taking skinny dips in the Nile, or taking a horse for a bath. With 96 photojournalists competing in the news, free, art, sports, tourism, environment and picture stories categories of this year's awards, Nabil feels that the exhibition is expanding, making it more important than ever for photographers to take part. Ahmed Ismail, who won last year and also received a prize in this year's competition, said that many photographers now take photographs with the intention of entering them in the Press Photo Awards. This "gives a push to many to excel", he said. However, it can also mean increasing work loads, Nabil explaining that every photojournalist has the right to enter six photos for the competition, with perhaps another six entered in the picture story category. This year was the first in which all photographs had been accepted in digital formats, with photographers being promised that at least one of their photographs would be displayed, even if it was not a winner, Nabil said. Not everyone would be pleased with the judging, he added, which was normal, since "it is not a science. This is news plus art, so there is bound to be disagreement." For Ayman Ibrahim, a photojournalist with Al-Ahram, this year's judging could be viewed as verging on the academic rather than the news side of things. "The art section was confined to opera and theatre, which could be related either to a lack of cultural activities during the year, or to prejudice on the part of the photographers," he said. From a volleyball game featuring Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif to photographs showing Obama's visit to Cairo, a fisherman taking a foam bath on his boat, sand surfing and safaris, miners and national parks, Egyptian photojournalists proved that they have been across the country this year, taking shots of all that matters and showing the positive and the negative sides of contemporary Egyptian life. For more information on the 2008 to 2010 awards, visit www.photoegypt2009.blogspot.comwww.photoegypt2009.blogspot.com
