Exhibit: The Disturbing & Beautiful World We Live In!

World Press Photo Contest Exhibition Review

Last week I visited the Allan Lambert Galleria in Brookfield Place downtown Toronto to view the World Press Photo 2014 Exhibition. This exhibit consists of award winning photographs in various categories submitted by some of the best photo journalists from across the globe.

World Press Photo of The Year 2013 by John Stanmeyer, USA, VII for National Geographic: Afican migrants on the shore of Djibouti City at night raise their phones in an attempt to catch an inexpensive signal from neighbouring Somalia

World Press Photo contest is an exhibit that travels to 45 different countries within a year and is only here in Toronto until Tuesday October 21, 2014. Some of the photos are hard to look at and brought tears to my eyes. Some are amazing and beautiful, but all the images need to be seen. Warning: Some of the following images may not be suitable for some.

2nd Prize Spot News Singles by John Tlumacki, USA, The Boston Globe: Carlos Arrendondo climbs over barricades on Boylston Street, Boston, USA to reach people who were injured by the first of two bombs that exploded near the finish line at The Boston Marathon, on 15 April.

1st Prize Sports Feature Stories by Peter Holgersson, Sweden: Heptathlon athlete Nadja Casadei particiapted in both World and European Championships in athletics, before being diagnosed with lymphatic cancer in the summer of 2013. Casadei was determined to continue her athletic career, and kept up a training regime throughout her treatment for the disease.

2nd Prize Spot News Stories by Tyler Hicks, USA, The New York Times: On 21 September, masked gunmen opened fire at the Westgate shopping mall, in Nairobi, Kenya.

1st Prize Nature Stories by Steve Winter, USA, for National Geographic: A cougar walks a trail in Los Angeles's Griffith Park, having just crossed two busy highways.

3rd Prize Nature Stories by Shangzhen Fan, China, for Shangtuf Image and Art Club: Wolves cross the desert snow, in Xinjiang, Northwestern China.

All the prize-winning photographs are seen by over 2 million people who go see the exhibits in over a hundred different venues. They are then published in a yearbook, in seven different languages, and distributed worldwide. World Press Photo also holds a multimedia contest as well. Please go here to view the winning entries in the multimedia contest. 

3rd Prize Spot News Singles by Taslima Akhter, Bangladesh: Victims lie in the rubble, on the day after the Rana Plaza building in Savar, Bangladesh, collapsed. The relationship between the two people is not known.

1st Prize Spot News Stories by Goran Tomasevic, Serbia, Reuters: Rebel fighters of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) attack a government checkpoint. Rebels take cover amid flying debris and shrapnel, as a shell fired from a Syrian Army tank hits the wall above them.

2nd Prize General News Singles by Moises Saman, Spain, Magnum Photos for Wired: A bomb maker for Syrian Rebel forces in a makeshift bomb factory in Aleppo, Syria.

3rd Prize Contemporary Issues Singles by Christopher Vanegas, Mexico, La Vanguardia/ El Guardian: Police arriva at a scene where 5 bodies have been discovered under an overpass in Saltillo, Coahuila, northeast Mexico, in the early hours of 8 March.

1st Prize Daily Life Stories by Fred Ramos, El Salvador, El Faro: El Salvador has one of the highest homicide rates in the world, much of it gang related. In many cases, the only way of identifying murder victims is by clothes they were buried in.

This exhibit was absolutely mind blowing. Some of the photos on display put a human face on the many atrocities happening today. Others made me smile at the amazingness of people and the world we live in. I am so glad I had the opportunity to see such amazing photos and learn more about what is happening or has happened in the world.

2nd Prize Contemporary Issues Stories by Robin Hammond, New Zealand: In areas of crisis - in failed states, in refugee camps, in countries where the infrastructure has collapsed - the mentally ill are frequently condemned to neglect or lives of misery.

1st Prize Sport Features Singles by Jeff Pachoud, France, Agence France-Presse: Mushers compete in a stage of La Grande Odyssee sledding race, at Megeve, France, on 18 January.

1st Prize Sports Action Singles by Emiliano Lasalvia, Argentina, La Nacion: Pablo MacDonough falls at a match during the Argentine Polo Open Championship, on 1 December.

3rd Prize Sports Action Stories by Quinn Rooney, Australia, Getty Images: A member of the Russian synchronized swimming team, at the World Aquatics Championships in Barcelona, Spain.

2nd Prize Sports Features Stories by Kunrong Chen, China, for Nanfang Daily: People in Zhuhai, Guandong, China, are viewed taking their daily exercise, from a drone.

2nd Prize Nature Stories by Kacper Kowalski, Poland, Panos Pictures: Views from the air reveal an impact of industry on the environment that is hard to see from the ground, as effluent leeches into the polish landscape-coal ash from the Adamov power station in Turek.

World Press Photo contest exhibition is not here very long, but please take some time and go see it! These images need to be seen! World Press Photo contest exhibit runs until October 21, 2014 and is open to the public until 9pm. Please visit World Press Photo for more information.

P.s!: This exhibit is free and open to the public! Please go see it! And in case you will miss it, check out the World Press Photo Yearbook with all the winning photos.

P.s,

Melanie!