10.06.11 - A photo exhibition, selected Works by RIA Novosti Photographers in World Press Photo History, which will feature the work of prestigious award winners, will open at Moscow’s Krasny Oktyabr confectionery plant on Friday, the organizers told RIA Novosti.

The exhibition, dedicated to the news agency’s 70th anniversary, focuses on eternal human values.

“We have consciously included not only photos that actually won awards, but also a group of photos that our photographers sent to the WPP over the years,” said Anastasia Davydova, who heads RIA Novosti’s Exhibition Projects Center.

She said this was done primarily for the viewers’ sake, to let them make their own decisions about the photographs and to agree or disagree with the judges.

“All these shots are still good to see, I mean they have not become outdated but have retained their historical or universal human value. One can say they have withstood the test of time,” Davydova added.

Alongside the display featuring RIA Novosti photos, the confectionery plant will house this year’s prize-winning photos from the World Press Photo contest, including the World Press Photo of the Year 2010: a portrait of an Afghan woman.

Bibi Aisha, 18, was disfigured as retribution for fleeing her Taliban husband's home (her nose and ears were cut off).

RIA Novosti’s display will stand out primarily because of its unique use of technology, Davydova said.

“We won’t print or frame our images in the traditional way. We print them on fabric, and we do it twice. The main image will hang at a distance from the wall to make it “alive,” while its black-and-white “shadow” printed on transparent silk will cling to the wall,” she explained.

In her words, light will play an integral role in the display, putting the images in greater relief and bringing them to life.

RIA Novosti photographers have won more than 20 WPP awards, the most prestigious photojournalism awards, over the agency’s 70-year history.

The exhibition will be on display at Krasny Oktyabr through July 10 and will travel to Samara and Kazan afterwards.

World Press Photo is an independent, non-profit organization run under the royal patronage of Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands, where World Press Photo was founded in 1955. Its main activity is holding the world's largest and most prestigious annual press photography contest at Oude Kerk in Amsterdam. In addition to World Press Photo of the Year, prizes are awarded in the following categories: Spot News, General News, People in the News, Sports, Contemporary Issues, Daily Life, Portraits, Arts and Entertainment, and Nature. Three prizes are awarded for individual photographs and three prizes for photo series. An album of winning photos is published every year with commentary in six languages, and exhibitions are held in several countries, which draw a lot of attention.

(rian.ru)