An international photojournalism exhibition comes to Drexel

Photojournalists tell us a story in pictures and often create art out of tragedy. Since 1955, World Press Photo, based in Amsterdam, has organized an international contest to highlight the best of the year’s images. This year, the jury chose 143 photos (out of nearly 100,000 submitted by 5,754 photographers from 132 countries) for a yearlong, worldwide tour, and the next stop is Philadelphia’s Drexel University.

The photos capture tragedies we followed this past year, such as the Boston Marathon bombing, the war in Syria, and the factory collapse in Bangladesh, but also moments of beauty and of strength, like endangered species and athletes in motion. The photos demonstrate the power of images to move us and make us remember.

According to WorldPressPhoto.org, 2013's Photo of the Year was taken by American photographer John Stanmeyer, on assignment for National Geographic magazine. He captures “African migrants on the shore of Djibouti City at night, raising their phones in an attempt to catch an inexpensive signal from neighboring Somalia,” trying to stay in touch with family members abroad. (For a gallery of other winning photos, click here.)

World Press Photo’s annual exhibition is coming to Drexel University, in the URBN Center Annex’s Leonard Pearlstein Gallery, 3401 Filbert St., Philadelphia, from April 30 to May 21. The gallery is free and open to the public. An opening reception will be held April 30 at 6pm. For more information, visit Drexel's website or WorldPressPhoto.org.