MEXICO CITY, MEXICO.- The Museo Franz Meyer presents “World Press Photo 03,” on view through October 19. The exhibition shows the results of the World Press Photo contest, the largest international competition in the field of photojournalism, which will be held for the 46th time in 2003. In February an independent international jury will judge tens of thousands of submitted images and select the winners for awards in 18 categories. The winning photographs, including the World Press Photo of the Year 2002, were announced on Friday 14 February 2003.

The international jury of the 46th annual World Press Photo Contest has selected as World Press Photo of the Year 2002 a black & white picture of the Armenian-American photographer ERIC GRIGORIAN who is represented by Polaris Images. In the photograph, surrounded by soldiers and villagers digging graves for victims of that morning’s earthquake, a young boy clings on to his dead father’s trousers as he squats by the grave where his father is about to be buried. The picture was taken on 23 June 2002, after a 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck the Qazvin province of northwest Iran, killing more than 500 people in some 12 villages.

3,913 professional photographers from 118 countries participated in this year’s World Press Photo contest, the premier annual international competition in press photography. With a total number of 53,597 images, the 2003 contest attracted a record number of entries. The percentage of digital submissions also shows an exceptional increase: 69 percent of all images were submitted in digital format (in 2002 this figure was 55.7 percent, in 2001 27.5 percent). The judging took place in Amsterdam 2-13 February. The jury gave prizes in 9 theme categories to 55 photographers of 21 nationalities from: Armenia, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, People’s Republic of China, Peru, Poland, South Africa, Spain, United Kingdom and the USA.

Eric Grigorian, the author of the World Press Photo of the Year 2002, received his award and a cash prize of 10,000 euro at an awards ceremony in the Oude Kerk, Amsterdam, on Sunday 27 April 2003. The ceremony is preceded by a two-day program of lectures, discussions and screenings of photography.