World Press Photo 2008 Exhibition in Cyprus

For the first time, the annual World Press Photo Exhibition will be in Cyprus next month.

The World Press Photo 2008 exhibition will be hosted at the Electricity Authority of Cyprus (EAC) headquarters from 25 September to 15 October. The event is co-organised by the EAC and the Dutch embassy in Nicosia and is part of efforts to promote relations between Cyprus and The Netherlands.

World Press Photo is an independent, non-profit organisation based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Founded in 1955 the organisation is known for holding the world's largest and most prestigious annual press photography contest.

The annual World Press Photo Exhibition is the best known of World Press Photo’s activities and a leading event in the organisation’s calendar. Every year following the contest, the winning images go on show. The tour programme takes in over 80 cities worldwide.

The awards ceremony is held in the Oude Kerk in Amsterdam. After the contest, the prizewinning photographs are assembled into a traveling exhibition that is visited by over a million people in 40 countries. A yearbook presenting all prizewinning entries is published annually in six languages.

In 2007, a total of 4,460 professional photographers from 124 countries entered 78,083 images in the competition.

The exhibition is a showcase for creativity in photojournalism and a platform for developments in the profession, part of World Press Photo’s aims of encouraging and stimulating the work of press photographers around the word.

The World Press Photo aims to promote professional press photography on a wide international scale. It includes annual contest, exhibitions, the stimulation of photojournalism through educational programmes and creating better visibility for press photography through a variety of publications.