World Press Photo of the Year: oorlogen en geweld overheersen

Selected from the 24 regional winners, the award-winning photos and stories document irreversible personal loss in Gaza, family and dementia in Madagascar, migrants at the Mexico border, and life under war in Ukraine.

World Press Photo of the Year
A Palestinian Woman Embraces the Body of Her Niece
Mohammed Salem, Palestine, Reuters
This image shows Inas Abu Maamar (36) cradling the body of her niece Saly (5) who was killed, along with her mother and sister, when an Israeli missile struck their home, in Khan Younis, Gaza.
The jury was deeply moved by how this image evokes an emotional reflection in every viewer. Composed with care and respect, it offers at once a metaphorical and literal glimpse into unimaginable loss. See more.

World Press Photo Story of the Year
Valim-babena
Lee-Ann Olwage, South Africa, for GEO
In Madagascar, a lack of public awareness surrounding dementia means that people displaying symptoms of memory loss are often stigmatized.
The jury appreciated how this story tackles a universal health issue through the lens of family and care. The selection of images is composed with warmth and tenderness reminding viewers of the love and closeness necessary in a time of war and aggression worldwide. See more.

World Press Photo Long-Term Project Award
The Two Walls
Alejandro Cegarra, Venezuela, The New York Times/Bloomberg
Since 2019, Mexico's immigration policies have undergone a significant shift, transforming from a nation historically open to migrants and asylum seekers at its southern border to a country that enforces stringent immigration policies.
Informed by his own experience of migrating from Venezuela to Mexico, photographer Alejandro Cegarra initiated this project in 2018. The jury felt that this photographer's positionality afforded a sensitive human-centered perspective that focuses on the agency and resilience of migrants. See more.

World Press Photo Open Format Award
War Is Personal
Julia Kochetova, Ukraine
Amidst tens of thousands of civilian and military casualties and an effective stalemate that has lasted for months, there are no signs of peace on the horizon for Russia’s war in Ukraine.
While news media updates its audience with statistics and maps, and international attention drifts elsewhere, the photographer has created a website that brings together photojournalism with the personal documentary style of a diary to show the world what it is like to live with war as an everyday reality. See more.