SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA, November 17, 2021 - The Seoul Metropolitan Government hosts the "2021 Seoul International Photojournalism Exhibition: New Normal Life" jointly with photo news agency PENTA PRESS from November 16 to December 20.

The exhibition takes place in a hybrid online and offline format, featuring 86 photos captured by 68 photojournalists from 12 international news outlets, including AP, AFP, EPA, IMAGO, and The New York Times.

20 photos among them can be enjoyed outside along the Seoul Metropolitan Library's exterior wall until December 12 so that citizens can enjoy the photos by walking along the library with keeping social distance, while the entire photos can be seen online given the ongoing COVID-19 situation until December 20.

In the main exhibition, 56 photos captured every moment of happiness and sorrow as well as joy and sadness in the daily lives of ordinary people around the world in the New Normal Life, which has become the world's new order after the COVID-19 outbreak.

Among the exhibited photos, a photo of a little Indian girl grimacing her face in pain during the COVID-19 test will make viewers feel sorry for her, yet also make them smile because of her cute reaction, and a photo of a Malaysian boy enjoying fireworks alone with a homemade firecracker represents a slice of people's lives amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Along with the main exhibition, Seoul prepared a special section with photos from The New York Times to welcome the opening of its Asia Digital Hub office in Seoul. Citizens can see 29 Pulitzer Prize-winning photos and a selection of 2021 year-end news photos that visually recap the most impactful stories from this year.

The final exhibition photos were selected by the Photo Selection Committee joined by Ph.D. James D. Kelly, Associate Professor and Director of Journalism of the Media School at Indiana University; Cecilia Bohan, Picture Editor Consultant at The New York Times; Gary Kemper, former photojournalist at Reuters and Advisor to International Olympic Committee (IOC) Media Operations; and Seokyong Lee, CEO and Chief Photo Director of PENTA PRESS.

Ph.D. James Kelly, Chief of the Photo Selection Committee, said, "Even during a year of pandemic, the world's photojournalists have found an essential spirit in lives of everyday people." He added, "All of these photographs show life as it is lived every day by those who the world's audiences would otherwise not see. Please look carefully at this collection of images, and you will have an opportunity to see your brother, your sister, your mother, your father, and even yourself."

Those who cannot visit the Seoul Metropolitan Library still can enjoy the exhibition on their desktops or smartphones through the Digital Gallery and the 360-degree Virtual Gallery created at the backgrounds of the Seoul Metropolitan Library and the Seodaemun Prison History Hall by visiting its official webpage (english.seoul.go.kr/SIPE2021).

To celebrate the opening of the exhibition, Seoul will invite citizens to diverse online events at its social media channels:

The exhibition's official website and social media channels
- Website: https://english.seoul.go.kr/SIPE2021
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SIPE2021
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/SIPE2021_
- YouTube: https://bit.ly/3bT9ngp

Youn Jong-jang, Director-General of Public Communication at the Seoul Metropolitan Government, said, "We, Seoul Metropolitan Government, are delighted to hold the 2021 Seoul International Photojournalism Exhibition: New Normal Life, in which Seoul and global citizens are allowed to enjoy international photojournalists' photos that have captured the new daily lives of people around the world after the COVID-19 outbreak."

He added, "I hope the Seoul International Photojournalism Exhibition will be an opportunity for Seoul citizens and people around the world to share their daily life amid COVID-19 and a hope that they will be able to greet a new daily life after the pandemic."

Seoul expects that the exhibition will contribute to promoting the city as a global city that is quickly responding and leading new changes in the New Normal Life.