| |  | | | | A curated view of your world in photographs | | | | | | Aisha (14) stands for a portrait in Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria. After being kidnapped by Boko Haram, Aisha was assigned a suicide bombing mission, but managed to escape and find help instead of detonating the bombs. Is this the photo of the year? Much has been said about the six photographs shortlisted for World Press Photo of the Year. Once again, the prestigious photojournalism competition shows that only images of war, destruction and misery are "celebrated." The World Press Photo isn't alone in this obsession for the macabre: Many other awards share the same ideas of what great photojournalism is all about. This fascination creates a feedback loop. Grants go to photographers who focus on subjects that look at the failings of humanity, and as a result freelance photographers feel the need to produce such work just to make a living. Positive stories — ones that look at what works in our world — as well as solution-based photo projects are often absent from these awards. There's also the issue that all six photographs were shot by male photographers. We can't fault the judges for that — World Press Photo doesn't disclose to the jury the identity of the photographers being judged — but it raises questions, once again, about how our industry commissions photographers. Too many times, photo editors — men and women — are still choosing white, male photographers for the stories that end up on the front pages of newspapers and at the top of these awards. (Not enough women enter these awards in the first place: Only 16 to 18 percent of all World Press Photo entries came from female photographers.) The industry is starting to address these issues, but a lot more has to happen to get to a true level-playing field. For the next two months, though, a sliver of the photography community will try to guess which of the six nominees will clinch the World Press Photo of the Year title. The odds are in Ivor Prickett's favor. The freelance photographer, on assignment for the New York Times, had two of his photographs shortlisted. Both were taken during Iraq's push against Islamic State forces, which culminated in 2017 with the liberation of Mosul. But, it's Adam Ferguson's photograph, also published in the Times, of a girl forced to be one of Boko Haram's suicide bombers that truly stands out. "We were all looking for new, challenging approaches within journalism and photojournalism," the jury's chair, Magdalena Herrera, told me earlier this week. "We really liked Adam Ferguson's story. It's an approach that's different and strong." Ferguson's approach is far from novel — portrait photography has existed since the invention of photography in the 1800s — and it's been used countless of times in photojournalism. But, when faced with more than 73,000 images, there's no doubt that the judges searched for a less than straightforward approach to the news: One that lets viewers breathe and take in what's offered to them. "I believe a portrait can inspire just as much as an 'action' picture," Ferguson told the British Journal of Photography. "A portrait asks the audience to engage directly with the subject, so it's confrontational in a way that an observed photo isn't." We'll have to wait until April 12 when the judges will reveal their final choice, but, I believe Adam Ferguson will clinch the top prize. — Olivier Laurent | | In other news this week: The Washington Post was one of the first publishers to partner with Google to launch AMP Stories, a new format that combines original reporting, photography, graphics and video in an engaging presentation optimized for mobile. "Some of the most highly engaging stories are the most visually compelling, and this format allows us to showcase our journalism when there are multiple elements we want to bring together," said Greg Manifold, design director at The Post. "We're transforming the storytelling experience to delight readers who are increasingly visually-oriented when consuming information." You can see a selection of our best AMP Stories at the bottom of this newsletter. | |  | | Alessandro Bianchi / Reuters | | | | Here are 14 of the week's best photos | | Winter Olympics in South Korea, portraits of the Obamas unveiled, Westminster Dog Show, shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida and more images from around the world. | | Read more » | | Opinion | | | |  | | | | | | It's Time to Show the Carnage of Mass Shootings | | Slate argues that we should see more graphic images from the aftermath of a mass shooting. "For all of the killing, though, it's striking how little Americans have actually seen of the violence. We are shown the aftermath, and sometimes... we see victims hiding or escaping. But we don't see what the bullets actually do. " | | By Jamelle Bouie / Slate • Read more » | | |  | | |  | | | Visual Timeline | | How the Florida school shooting unfolded | | Through photographs and videos, we take a look at what happened at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., where Nikolas Cruz gunned down 17 people, most of them teenagers. | | Read more » | | |  | | | Visual Stories | | Portraits of the Rohingya crisis | | Freelance photographer Kevin Frayer followed, last year, the Rohingya refugee crisis as thousands of Muslims were forced to flee Burma, escaping a military crackdown. | | Read more » | | | |  | | | Politics | | The evolution of Trump's wall | | In the broad, Platonic sense, President Trump's pledged border wall is what it always was: A wall, on the border with Mexico, for which Mexico will pay. In a specific sense, despite Trump's assertions to the contrary, the composition of that wall has changed several times. | | Read more » | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
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