Each year, a group of 12 young photographers come together for a “focused, intimate and reflective” workshop to help “foster their intellectual, artistic and professional growth.” Some of today’s most respected photographers have attended the one-week event, called the Joop Swart Masterclass and organized by World Press Photo.
This year’s roster—the 23rd group to be selected—has been revealed, with five women and seven men selected from a long list of 167 nominations. They are:
- Aapo Huhta, Finland
- Abdolla Heidari, Iran
- Amanda Mustard, USA
- Hicham Gardaf, Morocco
- Jana Romanova, Russia
- Line Ørnes Søndergaard, Norway
- Luisa Dörr, Brazil
- Mariya Kozhanova, Russia
- Prasiit Sthapit, Nepal
- Samsul Alam Helal, Bangladesh
- Sébastien Van Malleghem, Belgium
- Tomasz Lazar, Poland
The runners-up, who will automatically be re-nominated in 2017, are Karolina Jonderko of Poland and Clémentine Schneidermann of France.
“The role of the documentary photographer has changed (and become much more interesting): we don’t need photographers to illustrate the world anymore but rather interpret the world,” said Harry Hardie, the co-founder of publishing house Here Press and one of this year’s judges, in a statement. “The work that stands out, are the photographers with a unique voice, a unique way of telling a story. This does not have to be a technical or ascetic voice, it can be simply the choice of story one makes.”
The 12 photographers will have to produce a photo essay around the theme “Consequences.”
Olivier Laurent is the editor of TIME LightBox. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @olivierclaurent
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