Help: I ??am currently doing research on the history of world press photography and would like to know when the nature category awards of the World Press Photo Contest (Dutch Competition) were establi

Help: I ??am currently doing research on the history of world press photography and would like to know when the nature category awards of the World Press Photo Contest (Dutch Competition) were established?

The World Press Photo Competition (WORLD PRESS PHOTO, WPP for short) is hosted by the World Press Photo Foundation headquartered in the Netherlands, so it is commonly known as the "Dutch Competition". The foundation was established in 1955. Since the first World Press Photo Competition was held in 1957, it has been held for 51 times so far. The competition is the largest and most prestigious photojournalism competition in the world. In the past 10 years or so, WPP has gradually become familiar to the Chinese photography community and given it more and more attention. This shows that since the reform and opening up, the world view of the Chinese photography industry has become increasingly stronger.

The "Assassination of Bhutto" shot by American photographer John Moore won the first prize in the 51st Breaking News Single Image Award. In 1955, it was shot by three veteran Dutch photographers - Keith Scherer Initiated by Kees Scherer, Ben Van Meerendonk and Bram Wisman, the Dutch national "Silver Camera Award" photography competition has been expanded into a worldwide photojournalism event. competition, and the World Press Photo Netherlands Foundation (WPPH) was established that year. Its purpose is to "arouse and enhance widespread interest in photojournalism around the world, disseminate information and strengthen mutual understanding internationally." To this end, the foundation has held an annual World Press Photo Competition in Amsterdam since 1957 ( World Press Photo of the Year Contest) and exhibition.

The World Press Photo Foundation (since 1988, with the sponsorship of the American Kodak Company and the Japanese Canon Company outside the Netherlands, the word "Netherlands" has been deleted) is an independent, non-profit cultural organization without political dependence. It is supported by the Royal Dutch Government and recognized worldwide. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines is WPP's main sponsor. Eastman Kodak was the first foreign sponsor, and later Canon and IBM joined the ranks.

The late Joop Swart stepped in to save the organization in 1966 when WPPH was dying. From then on, and for nearly 30 years until his death on March 8, 1994, Swart made a huge contribution to the development of WPP in his work as a judge, chairman of the judges, chairman of the foundation and, from 1991, as honorary chairman. contribution. In 1991, Harry Groen succeeded as Chairman of the WPP Foundation in Swat.

The scale of the "Dutch Competition" has expanded year by year in the 40 years of practice. In the first competition, there were only 42 photographers from 11 countries participating in nearly 200 photos, and it has grown to 1995. In the 38th edition, 2,997 photographers from 97 countries and regions have participated in the competition, totaling 29,885 photos. The variety of participating photos has evolved from single black and white films in the early days to color films now accounting for more than 63%, and there is a trend of more and more color positive films. The competition has developed from a few individual events in the early 1980s to a format of 16 events in eight categories in the early 1980s.

Due to sponsorship from large companies such as KLM, Kodak and Canon, the foundation has ample funds to set up high bonuses. The first prize of the "Dutch Competition" is 15,000 Dutch guilders, as well as round-trip air tickets to Amsterdam to attend the award ceremony and food and accommodation during the period in the Netherlands. In addition, the author who wins the first prize will be provided with the conditions for holding a personal news film exhibition. The first prize for each category is 2,500 Dutch guilders, as well as round-trip air tickets to Amsterdam to attend the award ceremony and accommodation and meals during the stay in the Netherlands. In order to cultivate young people's interest and appreciation of photojournalism, a children's judging panel has been added since 1986. A children's jury composed of nine children aged 11 to 13 from various countries will select the winners of the World Press Photo Children's Award from the outstanding photos selected by the adult jury. The rewards for this award are the same as the first prizes.

In mid-to-late April every year, after the award ceremony of that year’s competition is held in Amsterdam, the exhibition of the winning works and some selected works opens at the same time. After that, the exhibition with the same content will travel to more than 70 cities in nearly 40 countries and regions. For more than 30 years, the WPP Film Festival has attracted more than one million viewers around the world. In sync with the film festival, a yearbook of award-winning and selected works is published every year. With beautifully printed black and white and color photos, accompanied by accurate and detailed descriptions of news photos and detailed background materials, each WPP yearbook can be regarded as a vivid chronicle of the world.

In addition to organizing competitions, the foundation also organizes photojournalism workshops.

In order to extensively improve the photojournalism level of young photographers, the Foundation held the "World Press Photography Masterclass" (WPP Masterclass) for the first time in 1994. The first master class invites famous photo editors and award-winning photographers who have served as jury chairmen or members in WPP competitions as "mentors" to teach 10 outstanding photographers under the age of 30 selected from various countries. Comment on the photos they took. Finally, the best works were selected from their works for exhibition viewing.

The foundation plans to organize such a master class every year so that young photographers from all over the world can get the opportunity to be nominated. Huang Wen, a 29-year-old female editor in the photography department of Xinhua News Agency, was selected for the 1995 WPP Master Workshop.

The rules of the WPP competition are basically stable, but there have been several major changes and adjustments in the nearly 40 years of practice. In terms of the setting of the awards, in 1979, to commemorate the invention of the Leica camera On the 100th anniversary of the birth of Oscar Barnack, Leitz Photographic Equipment Company invested in a special award "Oscar Barnack Award". The prize is awarded to the author of the best series of photos with 10,000 Dutch guilders and a round-trip air ticket to Amsterdam. This award was once the largest in terms of prize money. In 1990, the first prize was adjusted from 5,000 guilders to 15,000 guilders. After investing US$1,000 to add a special award "Franz Liszt Award" in 1986, the Hungarian Tourism Board continues to invest 2,500 guilders every year to add a special award "Budapest Award".

With the changes in the political situation in Eastern Europe, the two above-mentioned special awards - the "Oscar Barnack Award" and the "Budapest Award" were officially canceled during the 1994 competition. The first prize of each competition, which originally had no funds, began to be increased to 2,500 Dutch guilders each, round-trip air tickets, food and accommodation in 1993 at the 36th competition. In this way, the awards for awarding bonuses are greatly broadened. In terms of competition items, the number of competition items doubled in 1982 compared with the previous session, and a classification model of 16 items in eight categories was established. In 1986, the "Technology and Art" category was separated and became 18 items in nine categories. By 1991, the "Happy Events" category was cancelled, and there were 16 items in eight categories, and the "News Features" category was renamed the "General News" category. In addition to some changes in the competition rules, the design of the invitation letter issued by the foundation has undergone major changes since 1993 - from narrow to wide. No matter how many changes are made to the content and format, the deadline for submissions to the WPP competition remains the same: January 13th.