World Press Photo today announces the winners of the 2025 World Press Photo Contest, showcasing a selection of the world’s best photojournalism and documentary photography.
Gathered from across 2024’s fast changing political and media landscape, the photos invite viewers to step outside the news cycle, and look more deeply at both prominent and less seen stories from across the world as well as look again at familiar events. These works show the power of authentic photojournalism and documentary photography - offering space for reflection in times of urgency through visual excellence and dedication to accuracy.
Gathered from across 2024’s fast changing political and media landscape, the photos invite viewers to step outside the news cycle, and look more deeply at both prominent and less seen stories from across the world as well as look again at familiar events. These works show the power of authentic photojournalism and documentary photography - offering space for reflection in times of urgency through visual excellence and dedication to accuracy.
Category
🦄
CreativityTranscript
00:00Photojournalism can really connect worlds and so I know of no other competition that actually brings together the regions of the world this way in order to start those conversations.
00:25Since the very early stages of judging we tried to be very diverse.
00:31It was important for us to highlight what's going on. Sudan and Congo were very important in the discussion.
00:38Also there were few stories and also singles that talk about the wildlife in Africa, linking it to climate and the general life in the continent.
00:51So when it came to Africa the regional jury actually put forward images that touched on some of the patterns and rhythms of daily life that brought aspects of the kind of coverage that we don't often see from the region.
01:06So again in the overall mix it provides a slightly different balance from perhaps what we're used to seeing from the Africa region.
01:13World Press Photo is a very important photography platform in the continent specifically because it's one of few platforms that try to bring out more from the continent, trying to show the world Africa from a completely different perspective.
01:34And I'm not in denial of the amount of conflict that's going on in the continent.
01:40However I think there's also a very big parallel line that goes along as life keeps on going on in Africa and it's somehow under highlighted.
01:52And I think it's a chance for many local photographers to talk about these things.
01:57I think the best example to illustrate that was actually a single not a project.
02:06The image that speaks of the war in Sudan from a very I would say questioning and haunting point of view.
02:17There was an image which was shot during the conflict in Khartoum of a wedding.
02:22The image does not show much of what's happening in the city as there was some extreme shelling and bombing.
02:30However the way the man is posing in front of a wall and there was some rag in the background it just makes you ask so many questions.
02:43And there was an image of a bodybuilder in Uganda who lost his leg.
02:48And the image clearly displays his disability.
02:52However it was so powerful to the point that you don't notice that he's missing a limb but you notice the power and the way he owns what he achieved so far.
03:04He was a disabled bodybuilder who competes against able bodybuilders and that was just amazing.
03:10The photo was environmental, it was beautiful, it was strong.
03:14It was just unique.
03:19I think all of these entries had something special, had a different and complete unique voice to understanding the continent better.
03:27These are the images that are important to put forward, images that will make people ask questions and wanting to know more.
03:34In my region, the most important topic was climate change.
03:39From the mountains and steppes of Mongolia all the way to the islands, all countries faced different threats to the environment in different ways.
03:51And I think while each country had their own challenges and challenges,
03:56you know, different threats to the environment in different ways.
04:00And I think while each country had their own stories they had to tell personally and individually about various themes,
04:09the overarching idea of what's happening to our environment was very clear.
04:18In the Asian Pacific region, there were so many different topics.
04:25There was indigenous people, there was mining, there was a picture of sport, there was nature, story about monkeys.
04:37So it was very different topics in this region.
04:43Essentially, what we had to deal with in our region and what we looked at was the relationships that existed with people, with the environment
04:52and existing situations like, for example, what the indigenous people felt, you know, and what they have to deal with.
05:02And of course, there's always the ongoing topic of politics and conflict and how it impacts the daily life of people
05:10and how they continue to be and live in such situations.
05:16With Myanmar, you know, it continues to be such an important story for years on.
05:23And we felt it was important to also show and document what's been going on when the headlines are no longer on the country.
05:33But this is what people are still facing on an everyday life.
05:36As a jury, we wanted to ensure that also there was accurate and enough representation of the various countries.
05:46Philippines is one of those countries where you hear news all the time about typhoon, after volcanic eruption, after flood that just goes on.
05:57And constantly, you know, the people are learning to how to deal with living in such conditions.
06:03In these pictures about the flooding in Philippines, we see the people trying to live basically with the water.
06:15Climate change is becoming part of the life of these people.
06:20It's like a normalization of climate change.
06:24You feel that people are trying to adapt to this new reality.
06:31After seeing the pictures, I hope the audience will start to wonder where are we and what are we doing, you know, as a community?
06:44And are we on the right path?
06:46And think about bigger things, perhaps not something that we can solve as individuals, but more awareness is never going to be a bad thing.
07:06One of the beautiful things about photography or any art form really is that it's a way of expressing yourself.
07:13One of the beautiful things about photography or any art form really is that it's a way of expressing yourself.
07:19The main topics of the winners for the Europe region were of course the conflict in Ukraine and the repercussions of that war,
07:29as well as migration and the political shift to the right, which we see reflected across Europe and elsewhere in the world.
07:37One of my favorite stories, not just from Europe, but also from the whole selection, is the story of Maria in Portugal,
07:45a woman who was trafficked at a young age from Angola to Portugal in her four decades as a domestic servant.
07:53It looks at the racialized nature of labor and the long shadow of colonialism,
07:59how it affects not only people in other regions, but also in Europe.
08:04And how that labor has been used to drive wealthier economies.
08:11We're told we live in a post-colonial world, but actually the shadow of colonialism is very much alive and well,
08:18not just in Europe and in the countries and regions that were colonized in previous centuries,
08:26but it affects all of the layers of these other subjects, migration, conflict.
08:32These are all determined by what has happened in our collective history through the colonial experience.
08:44A very personal story by a Russian photographer, who's now based in Germany, who was going back to visit her family repeatedly.
08:54And Russia is a country we haven't had much of a view into since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
09:00And this allowed us to see the cracks and fissures that exist in Russian society around the war,
09:07how it has divided families, how it has divided society in a way that we very rarely see.
09:17I feel the photographer did a wonderful job by trying to tell us something about her and her family in an indirect way,
09:29in a very subtle way, very sensitive way, which is not easy at all.
09:36She chose to tell the story of her family, a dilemma that she's facing and a question,
09:44but her story is the story of so many others in her country and other countries as well.
09:51And this is where I felt the project was very well done.
09:56The images are stunning and the way she tried to tell the story in that subtle way that got me.
10:07I think in any picture, and as we were looking at the images as the regional jury and then as the global jury,
10:14what you want to feel is a human connection, a strong human connection to any image.
10:18And that's what I see in each of the winning images from our region.
10:24And I think you can look at any of those and be drawn into the human experience of the individuals who are portrayed in those images.
10:32So as jurors, we look for visual excellence, creativity, composition.
10:39Is there some wider aspect to the story that can be relatable and important to other people?
10:48The issues in my region were politics, migration, human rights, and the role of the media.
10:56The issues in my region were politics, migration, human rights, and people's right to die with dignity.
11:10And then political violence in El Salvador.
11:15The situation of Haiti, one of the poorest countries in the world for decades, is just ongoing.
11:21The situation of Haiti, one of the poorest countries in the world for decades, is just ongoing.
11:30And so we felt like it was very important to keep that story in the news.
11:37You know, when you see stories about migration, it's so often that you lose why people are fleeing.
11:43And so it's very important, any story of migration, that it's not just, what is the situation of people when they arrive?
11:52But what was the situation from where they came from?
12:01There was one story that knocked us all out from the beginning because of the exquisite way it was photographed
12:08and also the very private, personal nature of the subject itself, which was these death doulas.
12:17So you can go apparently to this house and have people there who help you through that transition.
12:26And it's a mix of these very kind of beautiful but spooky landscapes
12:34where you can see where you are, but not specifically.
12:40So no one was put in danger with those kinds of details.
12:44And just the colors, the sensitivity, it really just stops me.
12:50It still does. I'll never forget that story. So beautifully done.
12:55One of the great things that World Press Photo does is it elevates pictures that may not have been as widely published
13:07so that the viewer can see a broader narrative.
13:15With the photo of the assassination attempt on Donald Trump, it was important to have it in
13:21because it was such a key moment that turned the whole presidency and the election.
13:29The vulnerability, the vulnerability of him as a person after having been shot,
13:35the fear of the Secret Service agents.
13:38And it could have been like a total wreck of a picture because of all the elements that you have to put together.
13:43But compositionally and Trump's expression just held together beautifully.
13:52I think the most important thing is how this image captures you.
14:03It's the first contact. It's visually how this image took you to her.
14:10The main topics for our region were climate change, politics in Venezuela.
14:20And also migration.
14:24Every story is important and every story, every picture that was selected was a stunning picture, a stunning story.
14:37For me, one of the most important stories we had in our region is about the Darien Gap.
14:46Which is where many, many people coming to the United States had to journey through a tremendously dangerous, arduous journey.
14:59You don't have the road, the Pan-American road that crosses all the Americas.
15:05In this piece between South America and Central America, there's no road.
15:10I mean, it's the main route of migration today in the Americas.
15:18And this is just the beginning of their way to the United States.
15:23They're in the beginning and all this danger crossing and with these babies in their hands.
15:32The pictures are really, really touching images.
15:35So I think it's a well-deserved recognition.
15:41In the south of Brazil, last year we had these record floods, immense floods in Brazil in the south.
15:50And at the same time in the Amazon basin, we had these record droughts.
15:55And it's so interesting because in the Amazon, you don't have many roads.
16:01The roads are the rivers.
16:03So for these Amazonian populations, they have this relationship with the river.
16:11Everything happens on the river.
16:13Transportation, where children go to school, where elderly go to the health centers, to the cities.
16:20They go to the cities to buy food or maybe they fish, they get water from the rivers.
16:25And when the river is gone, life becomes impossible for these communities.
16:32If you are talking about the biggest river on the planet, on the biggest rainforest on the planet,
16:40it's a land full of water.
16:43And you see this river dweller carrying these two small bags,
16:48looking for this emptiness where there should be water, there's just sand.
16:55It's really, yeah, something.
17:00I hope that the audience, when they look to these pictures,
17:05they understand how climate change is a reality today.
17:11Everyone in all the regions.
17:14Everyone will be impacted because the planet is just one.
17:26So when it came to this region, with the jury members,
17:32we kept in mind the importance of the climate change.
17:36So when it came to this region, with the jury members,
17:40we kept in mind the major news events that were happening in 2024,
17:45from wars to conflicts and protests.
17:50So all these were kept in mind when the final decision was taken.
18:07The one from my region that I was really drawn to,
18:12the winning projects from Iran.
18:16I was intrigued by the approach of the photographer.
18:19It's the kind of projects that you need to slow down to look at.
18:23The images are stunning.
18:26And what stayed with me, those close-up shots,
18:30where the photographer is trying to tell us some certain details and information.
18:36You look at the picture with the snow falling and you think,
18:39OK, it's just a picture of a book.
18:41When you try to read what the photographer is trying to say,
18:45it's that these men take these difficult roads,
18:48risking their lives under very difficult weather conditions.
18:54It's not an easy story at all.
18:57He took quite a huge risk to cover such a story.
19:01And I'm always interested in how photographers come up with solutions
19:04to illustrate difficult topics visually.
19:09You feel it's a complete story.
19:12The photographer spent years covering that story.
19:16What I find impressive is that this is not a mainstream story
19:23that you always see in the news.
19:26Yet the photographer decided to choose that topic, commit to it,
19:30and take a huge risk to do it.
19:32Also, from Gaza, there was a very strong image
19:36that I think was important for us to put forward.
19:40It's a very strong reminder of what war could do.
19:44And the quietness that a simple portrait has visually
19:49contrasts completely with the realities of war.
19:52You know, war has some serious consequences that will live forever.
19:55Once you see it, you can't unsee it.
19:58He's facing a lifetime of tremendous struggle and adaptation.
20:05And so it's not just a picture in the present moment,
20:11but it's asking the viewer to imagine this little boy's future.
20:17It's not just a picture in the present moment.
20:20It's asking the viewer to imagine this little boy's future.
20:24It's not only a representation of Gaza,
20:27but it's a representation of consequences of conflict and war worldwide.
20:31And I think that image, to me, it does reflect Myanmar, Ukraine, Sudan, Congo.
20:39It's just a simple image of a child who had to lose his arms,
20:45mainly because he existed in a place where there's conflict.
20:49And so, yeah, the picture just stopped me cold.
21:03When the jury were discussing the final decisions, the selection,
21:09an important question came up with the submission,
21:13is the motivation of the photographer and the relationship of the photographer with the topic.
21:17Many of the stories that are submitted and the projects,
21:22a lot we haven't seen in the mainstream media.
21:26So a platform like the World Press Photo, it gives an opportunity to show work
21:31that maybe goes unnoticed or to bring attention to underrepresented stories
21:37that otherwise cannot get published somewhere else.
21:40That would, you know, have people question, ask questions, understand what's happening.
21:48I think if we look at the winners collectively rather than as individual images,
21:54what we see is that many of them are interconnected and overlapping.
21:59And the main kind of central themes are conflict, climate change and migration.
22:05And there's no way to separate those three themes.
22:07War drives migration.
22:10Climate change is also a major driver of both movement of populations and of conflict.
22:17And those three strands are the main themes that we see globally and throughout the winning images.
22:38World Press Photo
22:43World Press Photo