This is the photo of the year – VG

On Friday night, the press photographers club delivered the 2020 “Image of the Year”.

The contest is considered a Norwegian press photography championship and is the most prestigious for photojournalists in this country. Here’s what the jury writes about this year’s photo taken by Knut Egil Wang at the Moment photography agency:

This year’s image is a unique image that represents the universal sentiment of the year 2020: gray, sad and in front of the computer. One can be seen in the anonymous person portrayed, a person who embraces all the absurd emptiness, depression and sadness that together make up the crown year. This year there have been many tragic individual fates: many have lost their lives or lost someone they loved, many have lost their jobs and made the world change that way. But we have all been affected in a different and profound way where everything in our lives has changed. This year’s image is an icon and speaks of something deeper in us that describes this condition that has been more or less permanent since March 12 of last year: in home offices, in homeschool, in what private and public, physical, social and neighbor.

See the winning photos in the different classes below in the case.

Norway News

The year of the prime minister’s crown

Photo: Martin Slottemo Lyngstad, Paragon of Aftenposten

Erna Solberg and Health Minister Bent Høie will meet at the Emergency Preparedness Committee for Biological Events on the morning of March 12 at the Norwegian Health Directorate. On the same day, Norway will close due to the rapid spread of the coronavirus. – Today, the government presents the most energetic and intrusive measures that we have had in Norway in peacetime. The measures will have a huge impact on our personal freedom, Solberg said.

The reasoning of the jury: The image represents the biggest thing that happened last year. It is one minute past twelve, the time when Norway closes. The image has a cheek where political leaders are seen off guard, in a way that has not been done before or since the crown pandemic hit Norway. An image for history books.

News abroad

Black Lives Matter demos

Photo: Thomas Nilsson, VG

George Floyd was strangled to death by a police officer who had been kneeling on the African-American man’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds. A video of the incident sparked strong reactions when it was posted and Minneapolis was filled with Black Lives Matter protesters. The demonstrations resulted in violent clashes with the police.

The reasoning of the jury: A complete series without weak images, showing one of the most important events of the year. The images are both aesthetically and journalistically strong and show many aspects of the demonstrations. A perfect news report.

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Norway’s everyday life

A little bit of life

Photo: Paal Audestad, Aftenposten

Even Søraunet is four years old. Your life has just begun. Now it is almost over. 1 year and 10 months of age, he is diagnosed with metachromatic leukodystrophy, MLD, a serious and progressive disease that affects the nervous system. Life expectancy is four to seven years. At her parents’ wedding, Even was 16 months old and walked proudly with the support of her mother’s finger. Now he can no longer fend for himself. Over time, he also loses the ability to sit up, to support his own head. Little by little the words disappear. His language is gone.

The Jury’s Reasoning: A Strong and Heartbreaking Story. This image is about death, but at the same time you are so in the middle of life that you come. Try to live the life you have been given to the best of your ability. An extremely strong image of love that contains a lot, both concrete and symbolic.

Sport News

World record

Photo: Vegard Wivestad Grøtt, Bildbyrån

Karsten Warholm sets the world record in front of the empty stands in the 300m hurdles during the Bislett Impossible Games.

The reasoning of the jury: an image that contains everything. Here, a world record is set in front of empty stands. The photographer really has to choose to take this particular composition.

Sports report

Training today

Photo: Rune Sævig, Bergens Tidende

Swimming with the neighbor and boxing in the garden. Training for young athletes is not as usual with the strict rules during the corona pandemic.

Reasoning of the jury: A lot has happened in the Norwegian workshops this year. An incredibly well executed and well developed concept that is elegantly photographed. It’s great to see so much energy and sporty joy. Many photographers have tried something like this this year without success.

Portrait

Teppefall

Photo: Mars Vike Arnesen

On Friday November 6, when Raymond Johansen (Labor Party) decided to introduce an Oslo social lockdown, director Hilde Brinchmann and Tigerstadsteatret had their Nye Trikkestallen premiere in Oslo. There were new arrivals and carpet drops on the same day. The next day, they packed up everything they had been building for two months, after just one performance.

– We have risen to adapt the way we work. We are an industry that is used to thinking about new things, but when we do something that is so well within infection control and still doesn’t work, you get tired, says director Hilde Brinchmann.

The reasoning of the jury: Absolutely surreal good. You can see the melancholy in his eyes. Everything turns off and appears in the picture. The stage she’s sitting on was taken down. A clear winner.

Open class

Bondetamp

Photo: Lars Martin Hunstad

My mother is a farmer, my father is a farmer and I am the son of a farmer. Our home is made up of farmers and the farm has always been our home. Now I wonder who we are. In light of population growth, climate change, pressure on natural resources, rising commodity prices, and an ongoing pandemic, the farmer is balancing himself on the razor’s edge, both for his survival. as for others. Those who satisfy our most basic needs, are they also a threat to the planet we live on? With various crises looming over society, many have an ambivalent relationship with the farmer. We are grateful for the food, but at the same time we ask: Do you deplete the soil and resources, pollute the planet, deprive the animals of a life in freedom and have straws for the treasure? This project explores an identity crisis and a social crisis, with the question of whether my home is a right or wrong place. Are we heroes or villains?

Reasoning of the jury: A fantastic series. Stories with this theme easily ridicule, but not this one. This is portrayed with tenderness and warmth despite the harsh and direct form of the language, which rather brings out the personal story that is told.

Norwegian Documentary

Stillstandsrapport

Photo: Knut Egil Wang, Moment

Images of Oslo in the strange era of the crown.

Jury Reasoning: This series describes the state we’ve all been in this year with humor, warmth, and humanity. There is no crown series that has the same class.

Documentary abroad

The Covid-19 crisis in Italy

Photo: Andre Liohn, Dagens Næringsliv

Italy was the first country in the West in a health crisis due to the coronavirus. In March, Italy became the second epicenter and quickly surpassed China in the number of infected and dead. Authorities closed the northern regions and in the less developed south, the health service had to deal with a surprising increase in infection after families in the north escaped closure to families in the south.

The reasoning of the jury: the crown entered our houses as an alien. A brutal series that clearly stood out. A good classic report of the first outbreak in Europe.

This year’s newcomer

Far from – At home

Photo: Mario de la Ossa Sætre, Bilder Nordic student

Workers travel year-round, from across Europe, to Norway to provide the country with the manpower deemed necessary to operate, maintain and build the country. Since the enlargement of the EU in 2004, labor immigration to Norway has been dominated by Eastern European countries such as Poland, Lithuania and Romania. The daily life of this work group often consists of long hours in the workplace followed by downtime in barracks or houses on the outskirts of cities and society in general. The lack of systematic integration of these migrant workers coupled with a lack of language skills and isolation makes them particularly vulnerable to social dumping. For those who travel to Norway, it is a great sacrifice to leave family, friends and familiarity. Most people dream, especially of a job in their country of origin with the best working conditions they have in Norway to be able to be closer to family.

The jury’s reasoning: The jury has overlooked this issue in Norwegian photography. We have never seen a report on these workers, so present in our society. A very forceful series of images.

News video

Winner: Fang Yongbin and Kjersti Strømmen, NRK China’s poverty reduction behind the facade

The reasoning of the jury: An alert and daring photographer reveals the injustice that the Chinese authorities portray as an idyll. A great example of how good team planning and goal-oriented work pay off. The report has become proof of how China is trying to manipulate the foreign press by threatening

Video report / documentary, short

Winner: Egil Håskjold Larsen, Yellow Log / Aftenposten Where to return

The reasoning of the jury: Where to return »is a film almost without words. Instead, it is the images that trap us and suck us into the universe of the film, and we are fascinated by the taciturn protagonist and his faithful dog. The film’s visuals support the sense of timelessness in the main character’s approach to nature and allow us to reflect on the relentless cycle of life. The winning film is a rarely successful piece of poetic photojournalism that addresses the basic issues of life.

Video report / documentary, long

Winners: Anders Hammer, Charlotte Cook, Mark Lukenbill, Bill Ross IV, Cathy Chu and Raymond Lau, Aftenposten / Field of Vision Don’t split

The reasoning of the jury: In the documentary “Don’t split”, Anders Hammer takes us to the streets of Hong Kong and gives us a unique vision of the uprising against the authorities that unfolded in 2019. Through Hammer’s proximity to sources, we get to feel in the body what it is like to be a young student in Hong Kong and fear of losing key human rights when new bills are passed. His brave and well-planned work methodology stands out, as well as his excellent presence with the camera.