We, as consumers, have sadly become completely detached from the source, process and production of our food today. The saying goes “If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be vegetarian“. Ok, maybe not everyone, but I’m willing to bet a huge majority of people would make the switch once they made the CONNECTION.

World Press Photo, an independent, non-profit organization founded in 1955, is known for organizing the world’s largest and most prestigious annual press photography contest. Prize-winning photographs are assembled into a traveling exhibition that is visited by over 2 million people in some 45 countries worldwide. This year’s winners were announced yesterday in Amsterdam.

During the two-week judging, the jury viewed a record number of photographs with 101,960 images submitted by 5,847 photographers. The photographers represent 128 different nationalities.

The Italian Photographer Tommaso Ausili is one of the winners in the category “Contemporary Issues”. His series called “The Hidden Death” was awarded with the Iris d’Or Award and the title ‘Photographer of the Year’ as well as a prize of $25,000.

His photos capture what is very real in slaughterhouses in Umbria, Italy today. It shows us how neatly packaged meat in supermarkets is often completely detached in consumers’ minds from the process of it’s production.