Rescue Operation Photo: Massimo SestiniWorld Press Photo 2015 – August 26 to September 27, Bonsecours Market LiveEvents August 20, 2015 3063 World Press Photo 2015 Exhibition An opportunity for all to contemplate and better understand, through images, the main events and the major issues that marked the international news of the previous year. Presented at Bonsecours Market, the World Press Photo event showcases the prize-winning photographs from the most prestigious professional photography competition on the planet. This year 5692 photographers from 131 countries submitted a total of 97912 images. The prize-winning photographs are on display at the Montreal exhibition. Every day from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Nocturnes: Until midnight on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights For more information and ticket prices: www.worldpressphotomontreal.ca 514-940-4693 Featured Photo: Rescue Operation 2nd Prize Singles, General News Massimo Sestini, Italy Refugees crowd on board a boat some 25 kilometers from the Libyan coast, prior to being rescued by an Italian naval frigate working as part of Operation Mare Nostrum (OMN). The search-and-rescue operation was put in place by the Italian government, in response to the drowning of hundreds of migrants off the island of Lampedusa at the end of 2013. The numbers of people risking their lives to cross the Mediterranean Sea rose sharply in 2014, as a result of conflicts or persecution in Syria, the Horn of Africa, and other sub-Saharan countries. OMN involved the Italian Red Cross, Save the Children, and other NGOs in an effort not only to rescue lives, but to provide medical help, counseling, and cultural support. Naval officers were also empowered to arrest human traffickers and seize their ships. In its one year of operation, OMN brought 330 smugglers to justice, and saved more than 150,000 people, at least a quarter of which were refugees from Syria. The operation was disbanded in October, and replaced by Triton, an operation conducted by the EU border agency Frontex, focusing more on surveillance than rescue. For an overview of all the winners visit the 2015 Contest gallery: www.worldpressphoto.org Event location De la Commune Hall – Marché Bonsecours Old Montreal and Old Port 325 de la Commune Street East, Montreal H2Y 1H2 Metro: Champ-de-Mars
