The of the World Press Photo organizers revoked an award, after realizing that received "misleading information" about the photo, representing the Belgian industrial city of Charleroi. In statement, the World Press Photo said the award for the category of contemporary theme in 2015, granted to Giovanni Troilo for his photographic series "The Dark Heart of Europe", had to be withdrawn. "The story did not meet the rules and, therefore, the award had to be revoked," stated, adding that the organization found that one of the pictures had actually been taken in Molenbeek, Brussels.
"Troilo confirmed on the phone and by email that the image had not been taken in Charleroi, contrary to what he said on his application. This fake information is a violation of the photo competition rules of 2015", said the organization.
Giovanni Troilo won one of the categories of the World Press Photo awards. The 58th edition of the awards had as grand prize winner the Danish photographer Mads Nissen, who presented the portrait of an intimate moment between Jon and Alex, an homosexual couple. The image was taken in St. Petersburg, Russia. This awarded photo is part of a larger project Mads Nissen called Homophobia in Russia, which wants to show the world how it can be very difficult to be gay in a country like Russia, where sexual minorities are persecuted.
In Russia, LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community is socially and legally discriminated, and is still a victim of hate attacks. For over 20 years, homosexuality is no longer a crime in Russia, however, sexual minorities still live in fear.
The awards, given by the homonymous foundation based in Amsterdam since 1955, are divided into eight categories in which the three first prizes are distinguished.
For this year, 97912 images from 5692 photographers from 131 countries were submitted. 42 photographers of 17 nations were awarded: Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, China, Denmark, Eritrea, France, Germany, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Russia, Sweden, Turkey, United Kingdom and United States. The winner received a 10000 euros prize, plus a camera and a set of lenses, and awarded first prizes in each category received 1500 euros.
