An interesting find by Photo District News about the World Press Photo Contest, which just yesterday opened up their mailbox for entries for the 2010 edition. The organization has set new rules in place demanding that any photo entered must not be altered in any way, with retouching only acceptable when doing so “conforms to currently accepted standards in the industry.” Furthermore, they’ve stated that they can request original copies, straight out of the camera, if there any questions of authenticity arise when judging an image. Should seem like something that would have been in place a while ago, given how prevalent Photoshop and other image editors have been in widespread use for, say, the past decade. PDN agrees, but also has another question about this new rule:

It’s good to see WPP addressing this issue, since it makes the contest fairer. Now, the hard part: What does “currently accepted standards” mean? World Press Photo managing director Michiel Munneke says the wording of the new rule reflects the “need for flexibility.” It will be interesting to see how often — if ever — the jury determines it needs to examine original files.