This weekend saw the conclusion of the World Press Photo Awards 2018 held on 13-14 April at Westergasfabriek in Amsterdam.
The winning image of ‘the burning man’ (above) taken by Ronaldo Schemidt from Venezuela as part of a series of images documenting the Venezuela Crisis of 2017 was a popular choice. Ronaldo, who works for Agence France-Presse, is based in Mexico. During his presentation and panel discussion at WPP with his fellow Venezuela based AFP photographer Juan Barreto, he presented images of the lead up to the events documented in his winning image, and spoke of the risks to the photographer placed in an undeclared ‘civil war’. The victim suffered 70% burns to his body and remains alive and hidden in his home country.
