Without censorship: World Press Photo publishes the regional winners of the 2024 photo competition

PHOTOGRAPHY

Without censorship: World Press Photo publishes the regional winners of the 2024 photo competition

The images may be disturbing to some viewers

April 2024

©Mohammed Salem, World Press Photo

This week, the World Press Photo organisation published the regional winners of its 2024 photo competition. The result is a comprehensive documentation of the historical events of the year, described by many as a turning point in history. Founded in 1955, the non-profit organisation is based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and is committed to high professional standards in visual journalism. At the annual awards ceremony in the Oude Kerk in Amsterdam, the Press Photo of the Year is honoured, a coveted award for many photographers. Entries must relate to news-related events from the previous year. A regional model was introduced in 2021. Now the best photos in the regions of Africa, Asia, Europe, North and Central America, South America and Southeast Asia/Oceania are honoured. The aim is to recognise the international reporters who cover the world's trouble spots for us all. The organisation is made up of important names - its patron is Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands. The global jury chair is Fiona Shields, Head of Photography at The Guardian.

In today's world, images take centre stage: people are informed directly on social media in a matter of seconds, before news is filtered and edited differently. AI photos were therefore explicitly excluded from the competition.

Some of the winning photos: The photographers' presentation begins with a photo documenting the war in Gaza. However, one searches in vain for the photos of the Palestinian photographer Motaz, who was honoured in another photo competition.

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{Above)

A Palestinian woman embraces the body of her niece by Mohammed Salem
Inas Abu Maamar (36) hugs the body of her niece Saly (5), who was killed along with her mother and sister when an Israeli missile hit her home in Khan Younis, Gaza. Photographer @mohammedsalem85 describes this photo, taken just days after his own wife gave birth, as a „powerful and sad moment that summarises the general feeling of what was happening in Gaza“. He found Inas in the morgue of Nasser Hospital, where residents were searching for missing relatives, squatting on the floor and hugging the child. Inas had run to the family home when she heard it had been hit, and then on to the morgue.

At the beginning of the war, Israel ordered Gaza residents to evacuate to the area south of the seasonal Wadi Gaza river for their safety. However, Khan Younis (21.8 kilometres south of Wadi Gaza) was reportedly heavily bombed by Israeli air strikes from mid-October. Many of those killed were families who had left Gaza City days earlier

By mid-March 2024 (at the time of writing), more than 30,000 people had been killed and over 70,000 injured in Israeli attacks on the occupied Palestinian territories. According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Palestinian women and children accounted for more than two-thirds of the fatalities. The International Court of Justice is examining a complaint filed by South Africa accusing Israel of committing genocide against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

RESTITUTION

Dr. Clarence Epstein: “And here we are. The settlement is behind us and is a good conclusion.“ Read more on Alethea Talks.

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©Vincent Haiges, World Press Photo

2024 PHOTO CONTEST, AFRICA, SINGLES

Returning Home From War by Vincent Haiges

Kibrom Berhane (24) greets his mother for the first time since he joined the Tigray Defense Forces, two years earlier. Saesie Tsada, Ethiopia.

Violent internal conflict between government forces and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) gripped northern Ethiopia from 2020 until a ceasefire in November 2022. Kibrom Berhane joined the Tigray Defense Forces (the armed wing of the TPLF) in early 2021, after government forces attacked his village in eastern Tigray. He fought until wounded by a grenade, losing his leg, a month before the peace agreement. Impressed by Kibrom's determination to return to his everyday life, the photographer wanted to show the aftermath of the war, revealing its hidden consequences. (Source: World Press Photo)

©Alejandro Cegarra, World Press Photo

2024 Photo Contest, North and Central America, Long-Term Projects

The Two Walls by Alejandro Cegarra

Since 2019, Mexico has transformed from a country that welcomed migrants and asylum seekers at its southern border to one that enforces strict immigration policies very similar to those of the United States. Immigration and foreign policies implemented by different US administrations, COVID-19 protocols, and political and economic turmoil across Central and South America contribute to the ongoing crisis at Mexico’s borders. These factors expose migrant families to violence, corruption, and precarious conditions in border towns. Informed by his own experience of migrating from his home in Venezuela to Mexico in 2017, photographer Alejandro Cegarra initiated this project in 2018 to document the plight of these deeply vulnerable migrant communities and highlight, with respect and sensitivity, their resilience.

©Alejandro Cegarra, World Press Photo

2024 Photo Contest, North and Central America, Long-Term Projects

The Two Walls by Alejandro Cegarra

Ever Sosa carries his daughter on his shoulders as they cross the Suchiate River from Guatemala to Mexico, joining a caravan of 3,000 migrants and asylum seekers attempting to get to the United States. In 2019, Mexico granted humanitarian visas for a similar caravan, but by 2020, the policy shifted, calling for the dismantling of any caravan. Thus, thousands were forced to reach Mexico by crossing the Suchiate river rather than using the Dr. Rodolfo Robles International Bridge. Ciudad Hidalgo, Mexico.Since 2019, Mexico has transformed from a country that welcomed migrants and asylum seekers at its southern border to one that enforces strict immigration policies very similar to those of the United States. Immigration and foreign policies implemented by different US administrations, COVID-19 protocols, and political and economic turmoil across Central and South America contribute to the ongoing crisis at Mexico’s borders. These factors expose migrant families to violence, corruption, and precarious conditions in border towns. Informed by his own experience of migrating from his home in Venezuela to Mexico in 2017, photographer Alejandro Cegarra initiated this project in 2018 to document the plight of these deeply vulnerable migrant communities and highlight, with respect and sensitivity, their resilience.

©Adem Altan, World Press Photo

2024 Photo Contest, Europe, Singles

A Father’s Pain by Adem Altan

Mesut Hançer holds the hand of his 15-year-old daughter Irmak, killed while asleep when her grandmother’s home collapsed during an earthquake in Kahramanmaraş, southern Turkey.

A 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Turkey and Syria at 4:17 a.m. on 6 February, the first in a series killing more than 55,000 people and displacing 3.3 million. Factors in the high death toll included poorly, sometimes illegally constructed buildings and the early start time of the quake, when many people were asleep. The horror of the father's situation as he refused to leave his daughter buried under the rubble especially moved the jury. They felt that the image both portrayed the tragedy and highlighted the combined consequences of natural disaster and corruption.

©Daniel Chatard, World Press Photo

2024 Photo Contest, Europe, Long-Term Projects

No Man’s Land by Daniel Chatard

Germany positions itself as a leader in the transition towards renewable energy by 2030, yet remains heavily dependent on coal for energy production. In the Rhineland, forests have been cleared and villages demolished since the 1970s to make way for the Hambach and Garzweiler open-pit coal mines. In 2012, activists began occupying parts of Hambach Forest and later the village of Lützerath to resist these measures, managing by 2023 to save a remainder of the forest and five of six such villages scheduled for destruction.

The series shows the climate activists but also the dangers that police officers are exposed to.

©Frederick Ouellet, World Press Photo

2024 Photo Contest, North and Central America, Singles

A Day in the Life of a Quebec Fire Crew by Frederick Ouellet

Fueled by high temperatures and dry conditions, gigantic summer forest fires swept across Canada in 2023, affecting all 13 provinces and territories, especially northern parts of Quebec. The record-breaking fire season began early and ended late, burning nearly three times more land than usual. The jury felt that the iconic composition of this single image – reminiscent of a monument – stands as a powerful symbol of our losing battle against climate change, and a metaphor for our collective arrogance in the face of the crisis. Charles-Frederick Ouellet’s work was supported by the Conseil des arts et lettres du Québec.