World Press Photo Winner Criticized As Coward

The winning entry

The winner of this year's World Press Photo prize has reportedly been criticized for not photographing street demonstrations in Iran last year.

Italian photographer Pietro Masturzo won the prize for his photo of women shouting "Allahu Akbar" from the Tehran rooftops.

Spiegel Online has a good interview with Masturzo, where he describes the circumstances around the photo.

The criticism -- that others were out on the streets documenting the violence -- seems particularly unfair: What does good storytelling have to do with being brave?

And besides, the nightly "Allahu Akbar" chants, especially from people who wouldn't normally attend a street protest, were perhaps the leitmotif of last June's unrest.

-- Luke Allnutt