Nature, 2nd prize
Olivier Föllmi
01 January, 1989
Motup (12) and his sister Diskit (9) are experts at testing the ice with their sticks. Along with a group of adults, the two children are making an expedition from their village of Zanskar to Ladakh where they are enrolled in school. For eight months of the year Zanskar, in the heart of the Himalayas, is cut off from the outside world. Only when temperatures drop to 30 degrees below Celsius is a path created: a frozen river at the bottom of a canyon, which if all goes well, enables the villagers to reach Ladakh, the nearest town, in about 12 days.
Through our education programs, the World Press Photo Foundation encourages diverse accounts of the world that present stories with different perspectives.
Our exhibitions showcase stories that make people stop, feel, think and act to a worldwide audience.
Our annual contest recognizes and rewards the best in photojournalism and documentary photography.