Photography News

March 5, 2010 /PN/ World Press Photo has, after careful consultation with the jury, determined that is was necessary to disqualify Stepan Rudik, winner of the 3rd prize story in Sports Features, due to violation of the rules of the World Press Photo Contest. Following the announcement of the contest results, it came to the attention of World Press Photo that Rudik's story had violated a contest rule. After requesting RAW-files of the series from him, it became clear that an element had been removed from one of the original photographs.

The rule reads: "The content of the image must not be altered. Only retouching which conforms to the currently accepted standards in the industry is allowed."

In the opinion of the jury, the photographer ventured beyond the boundary of what is acceptable practice. Consequently, this judgment left World Press Photo no choice but to disqualify Rudik.

Michiel Munneke, managing director of World Press Photo said, "After careful consideration, we found it imperative to disqualify the photographer from the contest. The principle of World Press Photo is to promote high standards in photojournalism. Therefore, we must maintain the integrity of our organization even when the outcome is regrettable."

The disqualification means that the award will be revoked and that the story will be removed from the World Press Photo website and will not be included in the annual catalog and exhibition.

World Press Photo receives support from the Dutch Postcode Lottery and is sponsored worldwide by Canon and TNT.