Image of protests in Iran receives prestigious award

The World Press Photo Award 2009 was for the Italian photographer, Pietro Masturzo, who is the author of an image that has caught the demonstrations against the Iranian president’s reelection.

The photo shows a woman on the roof of a building in Tehran who protests and screams with his hands forming a funnel around the mouth, just days after re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on June 12, 2009.

“The photo shows the beginning of something, the beginning of a huge story. It adds perspectives to news. It touches you both visually and emotionally, and my heart went out to it immediately,” said Ayperi Karabuda Ecer, who headed the jury which chose the shot for the 2009 award.

“The photo has a powerful sense of atmosphere, tension, fear — but also of quietness and calm, and in this sense was a challenge as a choice,” said Kate Edwards, a member of the jury.

“We were looking for an image that drew you in, took you deeper, made you think more — not just about showing what we already know, but something that asks more of us.”

Masturzo, 29, won one of the most prestigious international image awards after less than three years as a professional photographer. He will receive his 10,000 euro prize in Amsterdam on May 2.