The annual World Press Photo exhibition is the best known of World Press Photo's activities and every year the winning photos go on exhibition at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe. The show opens on the 18th of February running to the 5th of March 2010.  The exhibition is officially opened in Amsterdam as part of the prize-giving ceremony in April, and until March the next year can be seen at venues around the globe.

The tour program takes in approximately 100 cities in 45 countries and is still expanding thus promoting free exchange of information.  The exhibition is a showcase for creativity in photojournalism and a platform for developments in the profession, part of World Press Photo's aim of encouraging and stimulating the work of press photographers around the world.  The show also attracts a broader public and because of the wide-ranging focus of the contests forms an eyewitness record of the world events of the previous year.

With the subsequent arrival of photography in the late 1800, photographers began documenting life around them. These early archives also serve as educational tools in the quest to grow and progress in the art of photography. Photojournalism has realized itself as an important and vibrant art form requiring its practitioners to continually be in touch with not only the latest news and global affairs but also past and present art forms that explore composition, colour and metaphor. The works exhibited in the World Press Photo represent the front line of international photojournalistic talent. The Gallery has been hosting the World Press Photo for more than 10 years and has been introduced on the educational potential of photojournalism.

The series of winning photos to be exhibited have been classified into categories that include spot news, general news, sports action, sports feature, people in the news, nature, portraits, daily life, art and entertainment and contemporary issues. On display will be an overview of the events that took place in 2009 around the world. The devastating and tormenting photos of wars, earthquakes and strikes that took place in China, Georgia and Kenya are a reflection of the turmoil that is still in the world today.

Sport is also a field captured in the development of photojournalism, showing the photographer’s ability to capture the actual moment of action. The xenophobic attacks were the major highlights in 2009 with a significant number of Zimbabwean deaths and injuries by South Africans. This took place at a time when Zimbabwe was experiencing spiraling hyperinflation and official figures of Zimbabweans who crossed over to South Africa was pegged at 96 000 per month, not taking illegal immigrants into account.

China was hit by an earthquake measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale last year and the earthquake was recorded to be the worst since 1976. About 76 000 people were killed and 4.5 million left homeless thus troops were sent out on a rescue mission. It can hence be observed from the pictures that war, hunger and death do not remain a problem only faced by Africa but have stretched out to the rest of the world. Despite the groups of previously mentioned pictures the show will be brightened by photographs of soccer, athletics, triple jump and a country wedding. The Gallery is delighted to announce that it will resume Sunday openings in February so that as many people as possible can view this inspiring and thought provoking show.