Eggert took the news of 2024

The Icelandic Photographic Society of Iceland awarded Eggert Jóhannesson, photographer Morgunblaðið and mbl.is, a prize for news film of 2024.

The photograph was taken in January 2024 when a search was made in Grindavík that Lúðvík Pétursson, who disappeared as he was working to fill cracks for the Icelandic Rights Insurance.

Kjartan Þorbjörnsson, or Golli, photographer of the source received a prize for the film of 2024.

The award was presented in the Reykjavík Museum of Photography. The jury included Árni Torfason, young Sighvatsdóttir and Patrick Brown, who is a double World Press Photo winner and was the chairman of the jury.

In the photo exhibition Pictures of 2024 are 101 photo from 14 newspaper photographers selected from hundreds of submissions. Sixteen photographers submitted photos to the jury and each could only submit 66 photos.

On The exhibition is the pictures in six categories: news pictures, daily life, sports pictures, portraits, environmental images, and sequences. This year, the jury awarded the best news film of the year and one picture from the aforementioned categories was selected image of 2024. The exhibition will be open in the Reykjavík Museum of Photography until April 27, 2025.

In the jury’s opinion, Eggerts’s image:

« The news of the year captures a moment that changed the story, the point when the nation finally realized the seriousness of the situation in Grindavík. Human life had been lost, our understanding of the situation changed, the turning point was reached. Limited, weather bad.

The photographer places himself perfectly; shows us the event well and recalls that the crack is not located in the open field but completely at a house, a house that seems to be nothing. Conditions do not inhibit the photographer in his work, but he uses them in favor and the wet on the lens adds depth to the image, reflecting the situation in a tangible way.

The subject is well framed and although it can be said that calm is over, the weight can be perceived. Across the scene, a red flagging hang, which is uniquely symbolic. « 

The jury’s opinion on Golla’s image states:

« The jury was unanimous in the choice of the film of the year. The film grabs immediately and is interesting for many reasons.

The film is part of a series of photos about Palestinian refugees and protests over the authorities’ progress in their affairs. In some way, it is eating one of the biggest issues of the contemporary, the position of refugees in the world. Children and families who have a constant threat seek shelter, which are often difficult to find. The child in the picture is in a place that can be called safe, but still seeks refuge and in some ways it is symbolic that the child seems to grow up from his shelter.

The symbol of independence, Jón Sigurðsson, watches over and the aircraft gives a connection to the outside world, but also recalls the ongoing threat that refugees are facing, to be able to expect to be sent out of the country. The film would have been strong without the plane, but the photographer was patient and clicked off at the right moment.

Multiple, well -structured and very beautiful image in the opinion of the jury but at the same time the meaning of meaning. «