In a surprising turn of events, the World Press Photo organization has announced that it will be withdrawing the 1st prize award it had given photographer Giovanni Troilo for his Contemporary Issues series "The Dark Heart of Europe." This comes one day after a new claim surfaced that accused Troilo of misrepresenting where a photo was shot.
Update: World Press Photo has decided to strip Troilo of his 1st place award.
Things are getting messier and messier for World Press Photo. After investigating a 1st prize winner due to accusations of unethical staging, the prestigious contest defended the photographer this week and stood by its award decision (much to the dismay of many in the photojournalism industry).
There's a new twist in the story, though: a new accusation is now being made against the photographer, causing WPP to reopen its investigation.
We shared last week that the Belgian town of Charleroi was protesting after a series of photos casting it in a bad light was awarded 1st prize at the prestigious World Press Photo contest. According to the town's mayor, Italian photographer Giovanni Troilo had gone out of his way to stage shots for the purpose of painting the city as "The Dark Heart of Europe."
Today, after investigating the claims against the photographer, World Press Photo announced that it will be sticking by its decision on the controversial award.
Charleroi is a town of about 200,000 people in Belgium that has fallen upon some tough times in recent years due to increases in unemployment, poverty, and crime. Italian photojournalist Giovanni Troilo pointed his lens at the city last year, capturing a gloomy photo essay titled "The Dark Heart of Europe." The images were recently awarded 1st prize at the prestigious World Press Photo contest in the Contemporary Issues category.
The contest, which already got a black eye after 20% of the finalists were disqualified for unethical photo editing, has another messy problem on its hands: the town is accusing Troilo of staging his winning photos.