Shooting stars

The image of a mutilated Afghan girl, taken by South African photographer Jodi Bieber, was the winner of World Press Photo 11, photojournalism's most prestigious international prize. The award is the creation of the Dutch organization of the same name, which tasks itself with spreading topical images capable of generating debate and reflection on the role of photojournalism in more than 80 cities in 40 countries.

"They are images, often censored by governments and the media, that are vital for clarifying our public conscience and historical memory," says Silvia Omedes, director of the Photographic Social Vision Foundation, which has organized the show now touring Spain that brings together the winners in the contest's 10 categories.

With the slogan "Seeing is believing," the seventh edition of the exhibition, which brings together 170 images, can be seen at the Barcelona Contemporary Culture Center (CCCB) until December 18. Although most tell stories of pain, death and destruction they are spectacular photographs, each one capable of taking your breath away. Among the winners, picked from the 108,059 images submitted by 5,691 photographers, are three Spaniards: Gustavo Cuevas of the EFE agency in Madrid, who won second prize in the Sports category for capturing matador Julio Aparicio at the exact moment of the goring that almost caused his death; Fernando Moleres, second in the Daily Life (stories) category, for a series portraying the inhuman conditions of teenage prisoners in Sierra Leone; and Guillem Valle, third in the Portraits category, for his photo of a man from the Dinka tribe in southern Sudan.

For the first time, projects relating to the internet and social networks have also been awarded prizes this edition. Such is the case with Michael Wolf's images of incidents and fights captured via Google Street View and the photos of Wolfram Hahn, of youngsters taking self-portraits to post on their MySpace pages.

The show includes a multimedia kiosk where visitors can access the World Press Photo Foundation archive, which includes material compiled over its 55 years of activity.

"We have to look for alternative ways of getting photojournalism to the public," says Omedes, who is marking the 10th anniversary of the Photographic Social Vision Foundation by organizing a series of events "to make society aware of little-known realities and problems , in order to encourage public interest in photojournalism."

Among these is Marea negra, Seattle-based Spanish photographer Daniel Beltrà's show about the oil spillage in the Gulf of Mexico, which is on display at the Roca Barcelona Gallery until January 29.

World Press Photo 11. Until December 18 at Centro de Cultura Contemporánea de Barcelona (CCCB), Montalegre 5, Barcelona. www.cccb.org