World Press Photo 2015: Giovanni Troilo Disqualified Over Staged Image and Mislabeled Location

The World Press Photo competition faced renewed controversy in 2015 when Italian photographer Giovanni Troilo was retroactively disqualified on March 4 for his winning photo essay "La Ville Noir – The Dark Heart of Europe" on the Belgian town of Charleroi. The essay had won first prize in the Contemporary Issues category on February 12. The disqualification followed complaints from Charleroi's mayor about an unfair portrayal, and from Jean-François Leroy, director of the Visa Pour L'Image festival, who criticized Troilo for asking his cousin to engage in a sexual act in a car for a photograph. Troilo admitted to staging the scene but argued it would have happened anyway. The organization initially ruled the scene not staged, but later revoked the prize after it was revealed that another image in the series was actually taken in Molenbeek, not Charleroi, violating caption rules. Critics, including former jury chair Jim Colton and journalist Nina Berman, accused the competition of using a technicality to backtrack. The first place was then awarded to Giulio Di Sturco for his reportage on China's Hollywood.