The most provocative and poignant images from around the world will be on display in Singapore from this weekend.

Presented by The Straits Times, the World Press Photo (WPP) Exhibition 2018 will feature 161 images by 42 photographers who were lauded for their powerful images in the non-profit organisation's annual competition, one of the most prestigious in photojournalism.

The 161 prize-winning photographs from eight categories in the 2017 contest will be on display from Saturday until Oct 28. The exhibition will be at the National Museum of Singapore, the official venue supporter. Admission is free.

The image that was named World Press Photo of the Year shows 28-year-old protester Jose Victor Salazar Balza on fire amid violent clashes with riot police during a protest against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in the country's capital Caracas.

Mr Salazar was set alight when the gas tank of a motorbike exploded, and survived with first-and second-degree burns.

The image was captured by Venezuelan photographer Ronaldo Schemidt, who was covering the demonstrations in May last year.

The Singapore leg of the roving exhibition is being presented by The Straits Times for the fourth year.

The exhibition, which will travel to 100 locations in 45 countries, is seen by more than four million people annually.

The competition drew 73,044 images from 4,548 photographers from around the world.

In conjunction with this year's exhibition, there will be weekly panel discussions and talks by guest photographers as well as Straits Times photojournalists.

ST editor Warren Fernandez, who is also editor-in-chief of the English/ Malay/Tamil Media Group of Singapore Press Holdings, said: "We have run many of these powerful and moving images in our paper and online, so it is great to have this year's WPP winners on display here.

"Our readers can engage those behind them, as well as our ST photographers, whose work ranks up there with the best, as shown by how some of their pictures have also been picked up by top publications around the world."

WPP sports category judge Wong Maye-E will moderate a talk this Saturday on covering North Korea. She is the lead North Korea photographer for Associated Press, and is responsible for taking and sharing images that document both news events and everyday life in the country.

There will also be talks by visiting photographers Patrick Brown (winner of the general news-singles category), Ivor Prickett (winner of the general news-stories category) and Masfiqur Sohan (who placed third in the general news-singles category).

ST executive photojournalist Mark Cheong will talk about the wide-ranging assignments he has covered in the past year, both in Singapore and overseas, including the aftermath of the Lombok earthquake in August.

There will be a guided tour of the exhibition, limited to the first 20 people, every Saturday and Sunday at 11am and 1pm.

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