SAN CLEMENTE, CA (October 5, 2009) – The KONA Gallery and Photojournalism Center will hold its grand opening Wednesday with photographs from the archives of the Pictures of the Year International contest, six decades of award-winning photojournalism.
"These pictures are our lifetime's visual history through the eyes, hearts, and minds of the greatest photojournalists of our times," NPPA member Scott Mc Kiernan, the director of the new KONA Gallery, said.
"The first time I viewed the POYi exhibit, I was moved to my core and reminded of so many earth shattering important moments in my life, I knew I needed it to be the grand opening show in my new gallery and center dedicated to excellence in photojournalism. I'm very proud to bring this exhibit to the Southern Californian community and hope to engage the audience with the directness and pure power of the collection. Pulitzer winners grace every wall, from Iwo Jima to 9/11. True visual journalism at it’s best. This show must be seen,” Mc Kiernan said.
The gallery's grand opening party, which is open to the public, is set for Wednesday October 7 beginning at 7:30 p.m. PST. The opening gallery exhibit will be up until December 12. KONA Gallery is at 410 N. El Camino Real in San Clemente, CA.
"Pictures of the Year International is the oldest and most prestigious photojournalism program in the world," Mc Kiernan said. "Since 1944, the POYi competition has honored the very best documentary photography and photojournalism, setting the gold-standard for excellence. And now POYi has culled this 50-print exhibition from more than 38,000 winning contest images from the past six decades."
"The POYi Archive is historical mirror on our society, our world events, as well as our daily life that goes beyond journalistic representation. University of Missouri professor Cliff Edom and his wife, Vi, founded the competition in 1943. Known as the father of photojournalism, Edom’s philosophy 'to tell truth with a camera' has become a motto for photojournalists and the guiding foundation for this contest."
In the first year that Edom founded the contest, 60 photographers entered 223 prints. Now each year, more than 46,000 images are submitted with 280 winners selected as the very best. A panel of 12 leading photographers and editors serve as judges during a three-week period in late February at the University of Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia. Today the Pictures of the Year International is a program of the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute at the Missouri School of Journalism
The KONA Gallery was founded by Mc Kiernan to show the most renowned documentary photography of our time and give a physical platform for great storytelling and visual history. The gallery will also act as a center for groups to gather to discuss the issues of the day, vis a vis journalism, its ethics, and the making of visual history, he said.
The founder and director of ZUMA Press, photojournalist Mc Kiernan has been an NPPA member since 1990.
