Hamburg, April 27, 2005
Each year for 50 years now, the World Press Photo Foundation´s international panel of judges has picked the best and most memorable press photographs of the previous year. This year, the World Press Photo exhibition again shows moving and haunting images: of the aftermath of the Tsunami disaster in Southeast Asia, the hostage-taking in Beslan, and of political unrest in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. But there are also pictures that tell of major sports events like the Olympics in Athens, along with photography highlights from art, culture, nature and science.

The World Press Photo of the Year 2004 award went to the Indian photographer Arko Datta. The winning photograph shows a woman in Cuddalore, India, prostrate on the ground as she mourns a relative killed by the tsunami disaster in Southeast Asia. The German photographer Michael Wolf won a World Press Photo Award 2005 for his photo essay "China - Shop Floor to the World," published in STERN magazine. Other winners include Jan Grarup, Peter Granser and Ingo Arndt for reports created for GEO magazine, and Carsten Peter for a report that was published in National Geographic.

On its 50th anniversary in 2005, the World Press Photo Award managed to set two new records: this year, not only did the largest number of photographers ever (4266) compete for the awards, they also submitted the most press photos in the history of the Award: 69,190.

This is the eleventh time that Gruner + Jahr has co-hosted the German premiere of the World Press Photo Exhibition at the G+J Pressehaus on Baumwall with STERN and GEO. Deutsche Bahn (the German railroad company) became a partner to the project in 2004. After its stint at the Pressehaus, the exhibition will travel to eight German train stations from May 31 through Oct 31.

Exhibition dates: April 28 through May 29, 2005
G+J Pressehaus
Am Baumwall 11
20459 Hamburg, Germany
Opening hours: Mon - Sun 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wed 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Admission is free.

Katrin Schramm
Gruner + Jahr AG & Co KG
Referentin Öffentlichkeitsarbeit + Unternehmenskontakte
Tel.: +49-40-3703-3882
Fax: +49-40-3703-5617
E-Mail: Schramm.Katrin@guj.de

Frank Plümer
STERN / GEO/ ART
Leiter Presse- + Öffentlichkeitsarbeit
Tel.: +49-40-3703-3046
Fax: +49-40-3703-5683
E-Mail: Pluemer.Frank@stern.de