I woke up this morning to an email from World Press Photo. I love how they start a communication.

“Dear friend of World Press Photo.”

Um, I’m only your friend when I win something or join the Joop Swart masterclass. Take note.

Okay, enough quipping.

They released the jury (judges) for this year’s contest and a preview of upcoming Masterclass work. The theme this year is “balance.” We all could use a little of that.

The judges:

Chair:
>MaryAnne Golon, USA, consulting photography editor

Members:
>Akinbode Akinbiyi, Nigeria, photographer, writer and curator
>Patrick Baz, France/Lebanon, regional photo-manager, the Middle East, Agence France-Presse
>Jonas Bendiksen, Norway, photographer Magnum Photos
>Peter Bialobrzeski, Germany, photographer Laif
>Erin Elder, Canada, digital media manager The Globe and Mail
>Per Folkver, Denmark, photo editor in chief Politiken
>David Friend, USA, editor of creative development Vanity Fair
>Ayperi Karabuda Ecer, Sweden/Turkey, vice president pictures Reuters
>Volker Lensch, Germany, head of photo department Stern
>Ricardo Mazalan, Argentina, photographer The Associated Press
>Arianna Rinaldo, Italy, photo editor D La Repubblica delle Donne and editor-in-chief OjodePez
>Sujong Song, South Korea, freelance photo editor

Biographies of the jury members are here. Also, see the Masterclass work on the gallery here.