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photos - Source: ONE News -
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Dramatic, violent and beautiful images of history as it's written are on display in Auckland for the first time with the best press photographs from the last year.
The world press photography competition is showing in 100 countries, defining moments of modern history.
Poignant, personal and intimate, the photos depict life-changing, and sometimes life ending, events.
Craig Dealey from the Rotary Club of Auckland said while some are shocking, only about 20% of the images are violent and graphic.
"Those tend to be the ones that stick most with you. But mostly they're just stories of humanity and the world," said Dealey.
Auckland's Rotary club has brought the world press photography exhibition to the city for the first time, showcasing the best photo-journalism of 2009.
Many photographs show humanity and mankind's conflict in a distressing light, with one sequence showing a man being stoned to death in Somalia.
But alongside human harshness there is the beauty of unsullied nature and the freedom of sport and intensity of competition.
Judges this year viewed more than 100,000 entries and the overall winner for 2009 shows Iranian women shouting dissent from their rooftops, following the nation's disputed elections.
The Auckland Exhibition is on level 6 of the Smith and Caughey Building Queen Street from August 14 to September 5.
It is also screening a special documentary about New Zealand camerawoman Margaret Moth who worked as an international war photojournalist for CNN. Moth died of cancer earlier this year.
The exhibition will also show in Wellington next month.
