Best of the best on display

Images documenting the Rwandan genocide, funerals of Sept. 11 victims, Prague's anti-globalization protests and the Kosovo conflict testify to the power and range of Czech photography.

Czech Press Photo (CPP), the premier Czech photography competition, launched a retrospective March 4 celebrating its past 15 years.

"The competition can boast photographs that moved public opinion, human emotion, conscience, response and, sometimes, even political action," said CPP Director Daniela Mrázková. "We have followed not only important world events but stories of the everyday lives of ordinary people."

The photographs on display include award-winners from all CPP's competition categories, including Picture of the Year, the Children's Prize and the Visitor's Award.

"[Our] artists are members of the newspaper teams of our dailies, weeklies, photo agencies and freelance photographers working with the media," Mrázková said.

CPP's annual awards bring together Czech and Slovak photographers, providing the opportunity for creative collaboration and dialogue in a profession often demanding long periods of isolation.

"We photographers often share opinions of our pictures together, before sending them to CPP," says Hynek Glos, a freelance photojournalist whose images of Moscow are featured in the exhibition.

The quality of the jury, CPP says, means the competition often serves as a launch-pad for the international careers of homegrown talent, as many jurors are commissioning editors of photographic projects.

"The way in which Mrázková somehow built up a prestigious competition from nothing is very impressive," said Jan Zátorský, a Lidové noviny photojournalist and CPP award-winner.

Like any prestigious competition, CPP attracts its share of controversy.

"Every year after the publication of results, there are lots of critics who complain that something should have won and didn't or shouldn't have won and did," Zátorský said. "I would compare it to a political election: One can agree or disagree with the result, but anyone who agrees with the system has the opportunity to subscribe. "

The scope of the images makes the exhibition accessible to anyone.

"It is aimed at the general public," Mrázková said. "To [them], it offers a glimpse into the mirror of their lives."

Czech Press Photo was founded in 1995 to fill the void created after earlier photojournalism awards, tarnished from their propagandist role under communism, vanished following the Velvet Revolution. Awards and grants have been won by renowned photographers including Dan Materna, Jaroslav Kučera, Jan Šibík, Jan Záliš, Michal Novotný and Martin Wágner.

Natalia O'Hara can be reached at
features@praguepost.com