BCN exhibitions tips: the Bloody Images of World Press Photo 2017 - Enjoy The Ride

By Virginia Villari

This year the WPP exhibition – which I saw at the Centre de Cultura Contemporanea de Barcelona (CCCB) – smelled like death and resonated with the sound of exploding bombs. I’ve been haunted lately by the horror of the world we live in, the war, the violence, the injustice, the dramatic climate change and the list could go on and on. The show visualizes this massive global conflict humanity is going through – everywhere and in many different forms – and it bangs it in your face through images of destruction and desperation that only the photo medium is able to make somewhat beautiful.

Burhan Ozbilici, An Assassination in Turkey, World Press Photo of the Year.

Jamal Taraqai, Pakistan Bomb Blast, 1st prize, category “Spot News”.

Valery Melnikov, Black Days of Ukraine, 1st prize, category “Stories”.

I was born at the cusp of Generation X and Millennials and I’ve always thought I’d be dead by the time irreversible climatic disasters and endless warfare became our reality, but honestly, given the steady catastrophic development of those phenomena, I don’t think that’s gonna be the case. At some point I guess we’ll really find ourselves in those post-apocalyptic scenarios depicted in Japanese anime like Akira or in movies like 28 Days Later. As far as dystopian reality goes, we’ve already beat 1984, Back to the Future II and Fight Club and we are on our way towards The Handmaid’s Tale…

Differently from previous editions I’ve seen of this prestigious photojournalism award – where I remember a balance between raw, violent images and pictures showing nature’s wonders and human achievements – this one seems to state that humanity is only able to fuel the fire of destruction it ignited, rather than trying to extinguish it. From beginning to end we follow a path of war scenes, bloody slayed bodies, refugees escaping their destroyed countries, wounded crying children, cities reduced a bunch of debris, explosions, fire, armies, animals killed by poachers.

Valery Melnikov, Black Days of Ukraine, 1st prize, category “Stories”.

Laurent Van der Stockt, Offensive on Mosul, 1st prize, category “General News”

Noel Celis, The Philippines Most Overcrowded Jail, 3rd prize, category “General News”.

Magnus Wennman, What ISIS Left Behind, 1st prize, category “People”.

Sergey Ponomarev, Iraq’s Battle to Reclame Its Cities, 2nd prize, category “Stories”.

Santi Palacios, Left Alone, 3rd prize, category “General News”.

Brent Stirton, Rhino Wars, 1st prize, category “Nature”.

Just a few images show people holding on, courageously facing their terrible destiny or rebelling against authorities and injustice. And this is what I decided to hold on to: that fire, not the one of the bombs, but the fire within us, the strength that pushes us to go on, hold our heads up and save ourselves and the ones we love at any cost, no matter what.