A picture not only speaks a thousand words but has the ability to leave you speechless.

Currently at the NZ Portrait Gallery in Shed 11 on the waterfront you can see a collection of photos that do exactly that. The photos that make up the World Press Photo Exhibition are selected from over 10,000 images that speak of the world we share with billions of others, highlighting the differences and similarities of the lives we live.

The world is an incredible place filled with beautiful, horrible and wonderful things and all if this is captured in these photos.

Damascus, Syria Rebels take cover amid flying debris and shrapnel, as a shell fired from a Syrian Army tank hits the wall above them.
Damascus, Syria Rebels take cover amid flying debris and shrapnel, as a shell fired from a Syrian Army tank hits the wall above them. Photographer: Goran Tomasevic
Bangui, Central African Republic. Demonstrators gather in the capital Bangui to protest following the killing of a judge by Séléka militia. Half an hour after this photo was taken, Séléka gunmen fired into the crowd, killing two people and wounding another. Photographer: William Daniels
Bangui, Central African Republic. Demonstrators gather in the capital Bangui to protest following the killing of a judge by Séléka militia. Half an hour after this photo was taken, Séléka gunmen fired into the crowd, killing two people and wounding another. Photographer: William Daniels
Ramallah, West Bank A man bringing home a sheep for the Eid feast smokes a cigarette, as traffic finally clears at the Kalandia checkpoint. More than four million people live in Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem, often in overcrowded or deprived conditions. People’s movements are circumscribed and the threat of violence never quite goes away. Yet although the challenges of conflict and occupation overhang everyday life, people are not solely focused on the difficulties of survival. Photographer: Tanya Habjouqa
Ramallah, West Bank A man bringing home a sheep for the Eid feast smokes a cigarette, as traffic finally clears at the Kalandia checkpoint. More than four million people live in Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem, often in overcrowded or deprived conditions. People’s movements are circumscribed and the threat of violence never quite goes away. Yet although the challenges of conflict and occupation overhang everyday life, people are not solely focused on the difficulties of survival. Photographer: Tanya Habjouqa

There is a wonderful app that you can download which enables you to not only share photos that strike a chord but also find out more information about the photographer, the photo equipment used and more. It’s a great interactive element of the exhibition which would otherwise be “only” a collection of incredible photographs.

In previous years I’ve left the exhibition feeling desolate and despondent. This year however I felt more like I’d been lucky to see parts of the world and people’s lives in ways I hadn’t before. I had my eyes opened to the realities that others live and it was an extremely humbling experience.

Conservationist and dive safety officer Ocean Ramsey surfaces while free diving off the coast of Haleiwa. Photographer: Donald Miralle
Conservationist and dive safety officer Ocean Ramsey surfaces while free diving off the coast of Haleiwa. Photographer: Donald Miralle

I highly recommend you get down and see this exhibition. It’s only $10 (cheaper for students & concessions tickets) and gives you an in-depth history lesson, despite covering a brief time span, of the world we live in.

It’s on until 21st September so you’ve only got two weeks to take it all in.