Now in its 12th year, the World Press Photo Montreal 2017 Exposition is taking place at Marché Bonsecours in Montreal’s Old Port.
READ MORE: World Press Photo exhibit showcases the need for professional photojournalists
Producer and visual media freelancer Matthieu Rytz, as well as Alberta-based photographer Amber Bracken joined Global’s Laura Casella to talk about this year’s edition.
Bracken was awarded the 2016 first prize in Contemporary Issues series for her work on last year’s Standing Rock Sioux Tribe opposing the Dakota Access Pipeline.
READ MORE: Edmonton photographer describes covering Standing Rock and Dakota Access pipeline
“I’ve been working in indigenous issues and indigenous rights for a while,” Bracken said about her interest in documenting stories that hit close to home.
“It became a national and international issue. I just had to go.”
In November 2016, she packed her Canon EOS 7D Mark II and traveled to Standing Rock, North Dakota.
READ MORE: Edmonton photographer wins prestigious award for Standing Rock coverage
She spent weeks at a time documenting the events unfolding at the protest camp.
Her series was selected out of 80,408 photo submissions by 5,034 professional photographers from 126 countries.
Bracken has been freelancing as a photojournalist since 2014, after she was laid-off following six years of work for the Edmonton Sun.
“But it’s also good because you have to become better and more competitive to keep getting work.”
Bracken has since freelanced for The Canadian Press, Reuters, Canadian Geographic, Maclean’s Magazine, Postmedia and the Globe and Mail.
The World Press Photo Montreal 2017 Exposition is taking place at Marché Bonsecours from Aug. 30 to Oct. 1.
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