Cloistered for three days in a conference room at the Taj President, Mumbai, the three judges-photojournalists Prashant Panjiar, Pablo Bartholomew and Harsh Man Rai-sifted through the sea of entries to come up with one grand prize-winning image and one winner from each of the 18 categories.
Over endless cups of green tea and filter coffee, the winners that emerged have set a new precedent for photojournalists, both established and aspiring. ?Despite the two years gap after which this competition has come about, I am pleasantly surprised with the quality of work and the innovation in ideas, image-making and story construction,? said Pablo Bartholomew, whose image of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy in 1984 won him the World Press Photo?s Picture of the Year Award.
The judging process was intense as photographs passed through three rounds of scrutiny. But it was after the first round that judges felt ?the need to reward novelty.? ?Photojournalists have always dared to experiment. But in the past 15 years, the work of photojournalists have stagnated and story-telling in photojournalism has become old-fashioned,? says Prashant Panjiar, who has served on the jury of several photo awards, including the World Press Photo Awards in 2002 and the Ramnath Goenka Press Photo Awards 2004-2006.
Emphasising on the need to encourage innovation, Pablo said, ?By ?new?, we mean a different kind of treatment and approach to stories, the courage to shoot out-of-the-box ideas and images that are powerful while being part of a story.? The judges maintained that while classic journalism wasn?t bad, it tends to get repetitive and clich?d. So the small number that bucked that trend was noticed and they are the ones who will walk away with most of the honours. Harsh Man Rai, the third judge on the panel, is group creative director of Man?s World and Verve magazines.
Shailendre Pandey of Amar Ujala won Picture of the Year for 2004. His picture of a young boy crying on the telephone as he informs his relatives of his sister?s suicide-her body is seen hanging from the fan in the same frame-presents the news in its darkest reality. In 2006, Vipin Pawar of DNA won the Picture of the Year for his picture of the Gateway of India stabbing incident.