The Prague Post Online: News: Czech Press winners '07

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July 6th, 2008

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Czech Press winners '07

Award-winning photojournalists share the stories behind the images.

October 24th, 2007 issue

Joe Klamar covered protests surrounding the heavily protected G8 summit in June.

Joe Klamar, Agence France Presse Second prize, Spot news enlarge

“I really have never seen such a big police operation in my life, or this amount of protesters,” he said. “They blocked the road, they sat on the road. [The police] used pepper spray.”

Klamar said some of the protesters tried to rush the gates to the secure area during lulls in police activity, but were mostly “playful” with the officers. “I don’t think they had any [ill] intentions, even if they managed to get to the fence,” he said. “I think [security] was going overboard.”

“The project ‘An hour of war’ is about how people entertain themselves in Europe; those ‘violent’ events… like Clean Monday, in Greece,” said Viktor Fischer.

“This photo portrays people who are throwing flour at each other ferociously and yet people found their way to each other in that turmoil. They might be lovers, or a married couple, or just helping to clean each other’s eyes,” he said. “We tried to make these photos look like war photos…and you see the contrast. It looks like a war conflict and yet…they are caressing each other.”

Petr David Josek Second prize, Reportage enlarge

Petr David Josek photographed this neighborhood watchman in a Sunni neighborhood in Baghdad. “Al-Qaida got really aggressive in these neighborhoods, applying strict Muslim rules,” said Josek, who was embedded with United States troops in August. “You have these former insurgents…[who] realized that they don’t get the security from al-Qaida, they get better security from the U.S. Army.” Some fighters switched sides, working with U.S. forces to keep watch in especially volatile areas. “They formed this local neighborhood patrol [and] had just created a headquarters there in a school,” Josek said. While some of the people in the neighborhood approved of these patrolmen, others appeared afraid. Tensions ran high for residents as well as forces on patrol. “You feel the danger.”

Michal Novotný First prize, Sports enlarge

In Senegal and the Gambia, wrestling is on par with football as the countries’ most popular sport. “The good fighters are real celebrities,” said Michal Novotný. “It’s practiced in every village…the big fights involve quite high sums. Hundreds of people come to watch.” While champion wrestlers compete on international levels, fights inside the countries involve more than just the match itself. “The fights aren’t only about fighting, but also religious rituals of all sorts. Before the fight the men would pour water over them, or carry a pouch…usually with a piece [of paper] from the Koran inside. Each fighter would have his own ritual.”

Michal Novotný Honorary mention, Daily life enlarge

This past summer, Michal Novotný traveled to the city of Bukavu, whose inhabitants have long suffered from deprivation in the midst of violent conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. “In the past ten years there has been a drain of people from the Catholic Church to the Pentecostal churches,” Novotný said. “It’s taking place because people have lived in misery ever since the independence. This ongoing sense of misery makes them more susceptible to believe that someone will cure them with prayer.” Believers prayed, sang, and screamed during ceremonies that lasted hours. “If one were to come there for the first time not knowing much about [the ceremonies], one would think that they’re all insane.”

Dan Materna, Mladá fronta Dnes Winner of The Crystal Eye, the contest's top award enlarge

Dan Materna won 120,000 Kč for his photograph “Distraint of a child,” depicting the emotional struggle within a broken family outside a Prague court. The child, Sara Baraová, was at the center of a high-profile custody battle between her Portuguese father and Czech mother, Natalie, who took Sara to Prague several years ago. A district court ordered her to be returned to Portugal in January, when the photo was taken. “I am glad [the photo] won, but I am also glad that this was my most frequently printed photo…based on that article there was one official removed from his office and things got moving,” he said. “We were interested in that case to raise awareness, to show that this is a problem of the whole society. We wanted to open people’s eyes.”

Alena Dvořáková and Viktor Fischer First prize, Daily Life enlarge

The photographer pair’s series of photos, taken since February, capture the domestic life of the Czech Republic’s tallest man, Tomáš Pustina, who stands at 224 cm.

“He turned 30 a couple of months ago,” Viktor Fischer said. “This was a photo when his grandma was wishing him happy birthday and she was kissing him.”

“He is totally dependent on his parents,” he added, “Through the photo we were trying to say that his relatives are really caring. It should express that warm feeling.”

Czech Press Photo 2007 is on display from Nov. 15–Jan. 30 at Old Town Hall in Prague. Interviews conducted by Lisa Nuch Venbrux, Naďa Černá, Marketa Podlešáková and Martina Čermáková. To see more pictures, please click on this link: http://www.czechpressphoto.cz/cz.php?st=home

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