The Greatest Stories of the Past Year Captured in “World Press Photo 17”

Photo: Civilians escape from a fire at a house destroyed by the air attack in the Luhanskaya village. © Valery Melnikov, Rossiya Segodnya. Title: Black Days Of Ukraine

“Post-truth,” which was chosen as Oxford Dictionaries Word of the Year for 2016, is the very thing tried to define: “relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.” Propaganda by any other name would simply be…more of the same.

Also: Controversy Surrounds the 2017 World Press Photo of the Year

Perhaps the word appeals to those whose held fast to their illusions of some great Fourth Estate, able to disregard the consistent expression of disinformation and bias because it wasn’t directed at them. Oh, but how the tables have turned, and new words are created to disguise the new fictions from the old. Certainly there is an objectivity—but who perceives it, and by what means? And who, with the power to report, would dare deny their own inherent subjectivities? Wouldn’t we be far better served without such claims?

Truth be told, ambiguity is discomforting. So much that one needs to consider; no simple answers here. But as F. Scott Fitzgerald understood, “”The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.”

Which bring us to World Press Photo 17 (Schilt), the new paperback that catalogues the best works of photojournalism made during 2016, as chosen by the World Press Photo Foundation. The book features some of the most unforgettable pictures made in what was most assuredly a strange and disturbing year. An exhibition of work from the book is currently on view at De Nieuwe Kerk Amsterdam, now through July 9, 2017.

The book cover features the 2017 Photo of the Year: Burhan Ozbilici’s photograph of Mevlüt Mert Altintas moments after the assassination of Andrei Karlov, Russian ambassador to Turkey, at an art gallery in Ankara on December 19, 2016. The murder occurred while the Russian ambassador was giving a speech during a press conference that celebrated the artistic collaboration between the two nations. Mevlüt Mert Altintas, a 22-year-old off duty police officer working security for the event, killed the ambassador in front of a room of video cameras and journalists.

Ozbilici’s photograph of a murder’s triumphant moment, with his kill laid out at his feet, was a controversial choice for the win. In the 60-year history of the awards, it was only the third time the image of an assassination was recognized. Stuart Franklin, Chair of the 2017 World Press Photo Award, wrote an essay for The Guardian in which he revealed his protest against the choice, explaining, “Placing the photograph on this high pedestal is an invitation to those contemplating such staged spectaculars: it reaffirms the compact between martyrdom and publicity.”

Here we circle back to the issue at hand: can we escape the inherent propaganda of reportage? What gets photographed and what does not are as important subjects for consideration as what gets published and what does not. We can only begin to unravel the nature of illusion when we recognize our complicity in it, and see beyond the emotional bond we feel to an idea.

Take Jonathan Bachman’s photograph of Iesha Evans standing tall in nothing but a sundress and slippers, peacefully awaiting the advance of two police officers in full riot gear during a protest against the extrajudicial assassination of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The photograph, which was awarded first prize in the category of Contemporary Issues, is one that speaks a very specific message about the state of the union.

There are two ways of seeing the same image, depending on whether you identify with Evans or the unidentified police, and each of these interpretations is grounded in a pre-existing set of beliefs. Bachman’s photograph simply reinforces what you already think. That is the challenge of photojournalism on its deepest level: can an image transcend subjectivity? Perhaps we should consider it does not. Then we wouldn’t need words like “post-truth” to describe the news, because we’d be inclined to question everything we see and hear, knowing information is only as credible as its sources.

Miss Rosen is a journalist covering art, photography, culture, and books. Her byline has appeared in L’Uomo Vogue, Vogue Online, Whitewall, The Undefeated, Dazed Digital, Jocks and Nerds, and L’Oeil de la Photographie. Follow her on Twitter @Miss_Rosen.

World Press Photo 17

"World Press Photo 17"

Mevlut Mert Altintas shouts after shooting Andrei Karlov, right, the Russian ambassador to Turkey, at an art gallery in Ankara, Turkey, Monday, Dec. 19, 2016. (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)
"World Press Photo 17"

Andrei Karlov, the Russian ambassador to Turkey, speaks at an art gallery before being shot by Mevlut Mert Altintas, left, in Ankara, Turkey, Monday, Dec. 19, 2016. (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)
"World Press Photo 17"

Gallery goers cower after Mevlut Mert Altintas shot Andrei Karlov, the Russian ambassador to Turkey, at an art gallery in Ankara, Turkey, Monday, Dec. 19, 2016. (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)
"World Press Photo 17"

Morton County Sheriffs - Riot police clear marchers from a secondary road outside a Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) worker camp using rubber bullets, pepper spray, tasers and arrests. In other incidents they've employed militarized vehicles, water canons, tear gas and have been accused of using percussion grenades. © Amber Bracken. Title: Standing Rock
"World Press Photo 17"

Healers - A man is treated after being pepper sprayed by police. White people have joined the camps in large numbers, often standing in front of indigenous protestors to shield them with their bodies. A man is treated with milk of magnesia after being pepper sprayed at the police blockade on highway 1806 near Cannon Ball, North Dakota on Sunday, November 20, 2016. Many people were injured when, with temperatures below freezing, police deployed water canons, pepper spray, tear gas, rubber bullets and percussion grenades. © Amber Bracken. Title: Standing Rock
"World Press Photo 17"

Land, water, horse - Horses are central in Sioux culture, described "like my brothers," by one youth. To have traditional governance and lifestyles, including horses, on the land is deeply healing and is fundamental to the pipeline resistance. © Amber Bracken. Title: Standing Rock
"World Press Photo 17"

Members of the Ejercito Juvenil del Trabajo waited along the road to Santiago de Cuba at dawn for Fidel Castro’s caravan on December 3, 2016. Cuba declared nine days of mourning after Fidel Castro’s death, a period that culminated with his funeral. © Tomás Munita, for The New York Times. Title: Cuba On The Edge Of Change
"World Press Photo 17"

Fidel Castro's funeral procession in Santa Clara, Cuba on December 1, 2016. Cuba declared nine days of mourning after Fidel Castro’s death, a period that culminated with his funeral. © Tomás Munita, for The New York Times. Title: Cuba On The Edge Of Change
"World Press Photo 17"

A family flees the fighting in Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, as oil fields burned in Qayyara, Iraq, on November 12, 2016. In its sixth week, the military campaign to retake Mosul from the Islamic State had bogged down in a grueling fight. Seeking to escape the bloodshed, more civilians than ever took the risk of evacuation, hoping to find help if they could make it past the militants’ gun range. By mid-December 2016, up to one million people were trapped inside the city, running low on food and drinking water and facing the worsening cruelty of Islamic State fighters. © Sergey Ponomarev, for The New York Times. Title: Iraq's Battle To Reclaim Its Cities
"World Press Photo 17"

Residents of Mosul flee the city amid fighting between Iraqi forces and the Islamic State in Mosul, Iraq on November 16, 2016. In its sixth week, the military campaign to retake Mosul from the Islamic State had bogged down in a grueling fight. Seeking to escape the bloodshed, more civilians than ever took the risk of evacuation, hoping to find help if they could make it past the militants’ gun range. By mid-December 2016, up to one million people were trapped inside the city, running low on food and drinking water and facing the worsening cruelty of Islamic State fighters. © Sergey Ponomarev, for The New York Times. Title: Iraq's Battle To Reclaim Its Cities
"World Press Photo 17"

Libya, Sirte: During an advance against IS, fighters of the Libyan forces affiliated to the Tripoli government take position on a destroyed building in Al Jiza neighbourhood on November 26, 2016. © Alessio Romenzi, Title: We Are Not Taking Any Prisoners
"World Press Photo 17"

Libya, Sirte: Soon after he surrendered, an ISIS fighter is violently dragged by Libyan fighters affiliated with the government in Tripoli while they shout and threaten to lynch him on December 5, 2016. Few minutes later he was found in the same place shot dead multiple times. © Alessio Romenzi, Title: We Are Not Taking Any Prisoners
"World Press Photo 17"

Libya, Sirte: Fighters of the Libyan forces affiliated to the Tripoli government walk around the gigantic chandelier of the conference room in Ouagadougou congress complex on July 14, 2016. © Alessio Romenzi, Title: We Are Not Taking Any Prisoners
"World Press Photo 17"

Libya, Sirte: Fighters of the Libyan forces affiliated to the Tripoli government aim at ISIS positions in Al Jiza neighbourhood on the frontline with ISIS in Sirte on November 25, 2016. © Alessio Romenzi, Title: We Are Not Taking Any Prisoners
"World Press Photo 17"

1) Seen in this photo is one of 35 wild leopards that are living in the Sanjay Gandhi National park in the centre of one of the biggest metropolis of the world. The Leopard is on its nocturnal prawl in the adjacent human settlements in search of food which are mainly dogs or pigs that are common near settlements. The picture is taken in Aarey Milk colony that is on the southern boundary of Sanjay Gandhi Naitional Park, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. Date : 24/09/20162) The photograph is taken in a tribal settlement adjacent to the park and belongs to Warli tribes. They are the native of Mumbai and are known for their cultural integration with nature including Big Cats. This house belongs to one of the tribleman. A Warli painting inside his house depicts a leopard demonstrating the quiet comfort zone, which allows him, and many tribals like him to coexist with the big cats in spite of their occasional too-close-to comfort encounters. Unfortunately, people living in high rises adjacent to Warlis are not so well connected with nature and perceive leopards as threat. This picture symbolizes the unique man-leopard co-existence which perhaps exists no where else in the world! They are sharing same space at different times!3) The picture was taken using a camera trap that was placed in the backyard of tribal house in an alley. The camera was Nikon D300, lens 18-70 Nikkor and 5 nikon flashes. The leopard clicked its own picture by breaking an infra red beam that was set using Trailmaster 1550 triggers connected to camera. © Nayan Khanolkar Title: Big Cat In My Backyard!
"World Press Photo 17"

Is a panda cub fooled by a panda suit? That’s the hope at Wolong’s Hetaoping center, where captive-bred bears training for life in the wild are kept relatively sheltered from human contact, even during a rare hands-on checkup. © Ami Vitale, for National Geographic. Title: Pandas Gone Wild
"World Press Photo 17"

Ji Ni a female Giant Panda unsuccessfully tries to breed with Wu Gang at the Bifengxia Giant Panda base in Ya'an City, China. The center is a part of the China Conservation & Research Center for the Giant Panda, (CCRCGP) Wolong Nature Center, under the Department of Forestry. © Ami Vitale, for National Geographic. Title: Pandas Gone Wild
"World Press Photo 17"

The Chinese know how to breed the popular bears. Now they're releasing them into the wild, where the animals and their habitat face risks. © Ami Vitale, for National Geographic. Title: Pandas Gone Wild
"World Press Photo 17"

Jockey Nina Carberry flies off her horse Sir Des Champs as they fall at The Chair fence during the Grand National steeplechase during day three of the Grand National Meeting at Aintree Racecourse on April 9th 2016 in Liverpool, England. © Tom Jenkins, The Guardian. Title: Grand National Steeplechase
"World Press Photo 17"

Gael Monfils of France dives for a forehand, during his fourth-round match against Andrey Kuznetsov of Russia, in the 2016 Australian Open tennis championships at Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia, on 25 January. Monfils cut and bruised his hand and required a medical timeout, but went on to win the match. © Cameron Spencer, Getty Images. Title: The Dive.
"World Press Photo 17"

Two men panic and struggle in the water during their rescue. Their rubber boat was in distress and deflating quickly on one side, tipping many migrants in the water. They were quickly reached by rescue swimmers and brought to safety. 2016 was a deadly year of migrants and refugees trying to cross the mediterranean from Libya's coasts to Italy's. With ever increasing numbers of unseaworthy boats attempting the crossing, charities and NGOs like MOAS are often overwhelmed. MOAS, together with medical teams from the red cross, operates two rescue vessels, the Responder and the Phoenix, just off the coast of Libya. They sit in international waters and await either the distress call from migrants lucky enough to have been given a satellite phone by their smuggler, or to visually find migrants boats - often in the dead of night. Then the race to rescue them before it too late starts. © Mathieu Willcocks/MOAS.eu 2016, all rights reserved. © Mathieu Willcocks, MOAS. Title: Mediterranean Migration
"World Press Photo 17"

Eritreans migrants seen cramped in the hold of a large wooden boat which carried approximately 540 men women and children, mostly Eritreans.2016 was a deadly year of migrants and refugees trying to cross the mediterranean from Libya's coasts to Italy's. With ever increasing numbers of unseaworthy boats attempting the crossing, charities and NGOs like MOAS are often overwhelmed. MOAS, together with medical teams from the red cross, operates two rescue vessels, the Responder and the Phoenix, just off the coast of Libya. They sit in international waters and await either the distress call from migrants lucky enough to have been given a satellite phone by their smuggler, or to visually find migrants boats - often in the dead of night. Then the race to rescue them before it too late starts. © Mathieu Willcocks/MOAS.eu 2016, all rights reserved. © Mathieu Willcocks, MOAS. Title: Mediterranean Migration
"World Press Photo 17"

Libyan fishermen throw a lifejacket at a rubber boat full of migrants . Migrants are very often not given any life jackets or means of communication by their smugglers. More often than not they only have some water, food and not enough fuel to make it to Italy.2016 was a deadly year of migrants and refugees trying to cross the mediterranean from Libya's coasts to Italy's. With ever increasing numbers of unseaworthy boats attempting the crossing, charities and NGOs like MOAS are often overwhelmed. MOAS, together with medical teams from the red cross, operates two rescue vessels, the Responder and the Phoenix, just off the coast of Libya. They sit in international waters and await either the distress call from migrants lucky enough to have been given a satellite phone by their smuggler, or to visually find migrants boats - often in the dead of night. Then the race to rescue them before it too late starts. © Mathieu Willcocks/MOAS.eu 2016, all rights reserved. © Mathieu Willcocks, MOAS. Title: Mediterranean Migration
"World Press Photo 17"

The body of a migrant found floating at sea. Red Cross medical staff onboard the Responder estimated he had been at sea for at least four days.2016 was a deadly year of migrants and refugees trying to cross the mediterranean from Libya's coasts to Italy's. With ever increasing numbers of unseaworthy boats attempting the crossing, charities and NGOs like MOAS are often overwhelmed. MOAS, together with medical teams from the red cross, operates two rescue vessels, the Responder and the Phoenix, just off the coast of Libya. They sit in international waters and await either the distress call from migrants lucky enough to have been given a satellite phone by their smuggler, or to visually find migrants boats - often in the dead of night. Then the race to rescue them before it too late starts. © Mathieu Willcocks/MOAS.eu 2016, all rights reserved. © Mathieu Willcocks, MOAS. Title: Mediterranean Migration