Belarusian Photographer Among Nominees For 2021 World Press Photo Contest
Nasha Niva’s photographer Nadezhda Buzhan became one of the finalists of the 2021 World Press Photo international photo contest. Her photo shows Olga Severinets waiting for her husband, politician Pavel Severinets, outside a notorious detention centre on Okrestin Street.
The World Press Photo of the Year honours the photographer whose visual creativity and skills made a picture that captures or represents an event of great journalistic importance. The prize is considered the most prestigious international award for photojournalism.
On 10 March 2021, the World Press Photo Foundation announced the nominees for the 2021 World Press Photo Contest and Digital Storytelling Contest. An independent jury comprising a group of experts from around the world selected the best visual journalism of 2020. The jury of the 64th WPP selected Nadezhda Buzhan as one of the finalists in the Spot News category. This means that she will take first, second or third place in this nomination.
Her photo shows Olga Severinets waiting for her husband and opposition politician Pavel outside the detention centre on Okrestin Street. Pavel was arrested while collecting signatures in support of candidates to stand against President Alexander Lukashenko in his bid for a sixth consecutive term in office. A well-known political activist had been held on remand since 7 June, and his family had learned he was about to be released. Olga waited outside the prison for two hours, but Pavel was never freed.
“I sent this photo at the very last moment. I have already prepared the letter and before pressing the button, I remembered about it. There were so many events after the election that this shot was almost forgotten,” Nasha Niva quotes Nadezhda Buzhan.
Photographers from Belarus have become World Press Photo finalists for the second year in a row. In 2020, photographer Tatyana Tkacheva took second place in the Portraits category with a series of portraits and stories titled Between Law and Shame, which tells about Belarusian women who have decided to have an abortion.
The jury looked through almost 75,000 pictures from over 4,000 photographers that applied, to select 45 professionals from 28 different countries. Nadezhda’s photo is the only one telling about the events that followed the presidential election in Belarus. The winners of the 2021 Photo Contest and the 2021 Digital Storytelling Contest will be announced on 15 April in an online awards ceremony.
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