Jury Duty

I just got back from Amsterdam, where I helped out with the judging for the Nature and Environment categories of the 2018 World Press Photo contest. The Environment section is new this year.

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Britta, David, Whitney, me

It was actually my first visit to Amsterdam, though I only really got to see the airport (which is humongous), the hotel, and the office. Even though my visit was short, I had a wonderful time, thanks to the terrific team at World Press, and also to my fellow judges Britta and Whitney.

Our chemistry was perfect, just the right combination of banter, disagreements and compromise—all managed by the wise hand of David, who was in charge of keeping us in line and on pace to make it through something approaching 10,000 photos. Poor David. He deserves overtime babysitting pay.

If there's one takeaway message I have for anyone thinking about entering this and other photo contests, it's this: Please read the category descriptions and enter appropriate images. I know the category descriptions can sometimes be confusing or not entirely clear, but if you have questions, contact the organisers to see if you can clarify. It's in your best interest, because entering an image into the wrong category substantially diminishes the chances of it being considered.

The judging process for other categories and overall winners is still ongoing. The nominees will be announced on 14 February, and final results on 12 April.

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Me daydreaming concentrating

Photos courtesy: Frank van Beek / Hollandse Hoogte