World Press Photo of the Year and finalists announced

World Press Photo of the Year revealed

World Press Photo today announces the Photo of the Year and two finalists of the 2025 World Press Photo Contest, showcasing a selection of the world’s best photojournalism and documentary photography. 

The Photo of the Year winner for 2025 is a photo by Doha based Palestinian photographer Samar Abu Elouf, taken for The New York Times, of a young boy - Mahmoud Ajjour - severely injured while fleeing an Israeli attack in Gaza. 

Mahmoud Ajjour, Aged Nine
Samar Abu Elouf, for The New York Times

Samar Abu Elouf was evacuated from Gaza in December 2023. She now lives in the same apartment complex as Mahmoud in Doha, where she has documented the few badly wounded Gazans who, like Mahmoud, have made it out for treatment. Mahmoud Ajjour was severely injured while fleeing an Israeli attack in Gaza City in March 2024. After he turned back to urge his family onward, an explosion severed one of his arms and mutilated the other. The family were evacuated to Qatar where, after medical treatment, Mahmoud is learning to play games on his phone, write, and open doors with his feet.

Mahmoud’s dream is simple: he wants to get prosthetics and live his life as any other child. The war in Gaza has taken a disproportionate toll on children and the United Nations estimates that by December 2024, Gaza had the highest number of child amputees per capita anywhere in the world.

Executive Director World Press Photo, Joumana El Zein Khoury said:

“This is a quiet photo that speaks loudly. It tells the story of one boy, but also of a wider war that will have an impact for generations. Looking at our archive, in the 70th year of World Press Photo, I am confronted by too many images like this one.

I remain endlessly grateful for the photographers who, despite the personal risks and emotional costs, record these stories to give all of us the opportunity to understand, empathise, and be inspired to action.

As we look ahead to the next 70 years, World Press Photo remains dedicated to supporting the photographers who risk everything to bring us the truth.”

At 17 April 2025 at 11:00am CEST (Amsterdam), the 2025 World Press Photo of the Year winner and two finalists, will be announced at the press opening of the Flagship World Press Photo Exhibition 2025 at De Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and online simultaneously to media across the globe. Every winning photographer is eligible for the Photo of the Year award.

Two finalists were selected as runners up alongside the Photo of the Year:

Night Crossing

John Moore, United States, Getty Images

Chinese migrants warm themselves during a cold rain after crossing the US–Mexico border. This image, both otherworldly and intimate, depicts the complex realities of migration at the border, which is often flattened and politicized in public discourse in the United States.

Droughts in the Amazon

Musuk Nolte, Peru/Mexico, Panos Pictures, Bertha Foundation

A young man brings food to his mother who lives in the village of Manacapuru. The village was once accessible by boat, but because of the drought, he must walk 2 kilometers along a dry riverbed in the Amazon. The striking contrast of dry, desert-like scenes in the world's largest rainforest makes the absence of water hauntingly visible.

The awarded stories will be shown to millions as part of the World Press Photo annual traveling exhibition in over 60 locations around the world. Millions more will see the winning stories online.

Global jury chair, Lucy Conticello, Director of Photography for M, Le Monde's weekend magazine, said:

“When the global jury got down to selecting the different contenders for Photo of the Year we started with a wide selection from each of the six regions. Three topics emerged from that pool that define the 2025 World Press Photo edition: conflict, migration, and climate change. Another way of seeing them is as stories of resilience, family, and community.

The Photo of the Year is a portrait of a boy wearing a tank top; he's facing a window and a warm light shines on him casting a soft shadow on one side of his face. His young age, and beautiful features, are really in contrast with his melancholy expression. You then realize with a shock that he is missing his arms.

This young boy's life deserves to be understood, and this picture does what great photojournalism can do: provide a layered entry point into a complex story, and the incentive to prolong one's encounter with that story. In my opinion, this image by Samar Abu Elouf was a clear winner from the start.”

Notes to editors

About press freedom

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, “The Israel-Gaza war has killed more journalists over the course of a year than in any other conflict CPJ has documented.” As of 4 April, 165 Palestinian, two Israeli, and six Lebanese have been killed, including cases where Palestinian journalists were allegedly targeted (read more).

Other countries with stories selected by the jury are also ranked low in Reporters Without Borders 2024 Press Freedom Index, including: Myanmar, Bangladesh, Sudan, Venezuela, and Russia.

Netherlands winners

Two additional winners, both from the Netherlands have been selected as follows:

Prins de Vos for Mika
Mika (21) has been waiting for 22 months for a first consultation at a gender clinic. Meanwhile, he has personally covered the costs of top surgery and hormone treatment. He finally had his first consultation in May 2024. Rotterdam, the Netherlands, 2 February 2024. Prolonged waits for first appointments for gender-affirmation (supporting a person in being able to live as the gender they identify with) are a reality both in the Netherlands and globally. The toll on non-binary and trans people’s wellbeing can be profound, causing frustration, isolation, and despair. The photographer aims to highlight these issues, foster a greater understanding of the impact waiting has on people’s lives, and to encourage a more inclusive and compassionate approach to gender-affirming care.

View the image. 

Marijn Fiddler for Tamale Safalu
Despite losing his leg after a terrible motorcycle accident in 2020, Tamale Safalu remained committed to competitive bodybuilding, becoming the first disabled athlete in Uganda to compete against able-bodied athletes. His strength and determination in the face of adversity challenges stereotypes and serves as an inspiration to people from all walks of life. “By competing as a bodybuilder on stage, I want to encourage other people with disabilities to recognize their own talents and never put their heads down,” says Tamale.

View the image. 

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The awarded stories will be shown to millions worldwide as part of World Press Photo’s annual traveling exhibition in over 60 locations around the world - including the world premiere exhibition in Amsterdam at De Nieuwe Kerk (18 April - 21 September); followed by London (23 May - 25 August); and Rome (6 May - 8 June), Berlin (6 June - 29 June); Vienna (12 September - 9 November); Budapest (10 September - 9 November); Mexico City (18 July - 28 September); Rio de Janeiro (27 May - 20 July); Montreal (27 August - 11 October); Jakarta (12 September - 11 October) and Sydney (24 May - 6 July).

About the Contest
For 70 years, the annual World Press Photo Contest has recognized the best work produced in the previous year. This year’s winners represent the best of the 59,320 photographs by 3,778 photographers from 141 countries entered in the 2025 Contest. They include images of struggle and defiance, but also of human warmth and courage – visually stunning work that draws you deeper into stories behind the news.

This year, there will be more winning projects and photographers, growing from 33 total winners in 2024 to 42 this year. For the past three years, there has been one winning Single and one winning Story per region. Beginning in 2025, there will be three winners in each of these categories per region. There will also continue to be one Long-Term Project winner per region. Read more

The Photo of the Year winner will receive an additional 10,000 euros. They and the two finalists will each also receive a FUJIFILM GFX100 II camera, with two batteries (NP-W235) and one battery charger (BC-W235) plus their choice of either two FUJINON GF lenses, or a fixed lens digital camera, FUJIFILM GFX100RF, and a FUJINON GF lens - with a total retail value of over 14,000 euros (depending on options selected).

The winning photographers are from from: Bangladesh, Belarus, Brazil, Colombia, DRC, El Salvador, France, Germany, Haiti, Indonesia, Iran, Iran/Canada, Italy, Myanmar, Netherlands, Nigeria, Palestine, Peru/Mexico, Philippines, Portugal, Russia, Russia/Germany, South Korea, Spain, Sudan, Thailand, Turkey, UK, United Kingdom, United States, and Venezuela.

Key themes this year range from politics, and gender, and migration, to conflict, and the climate crisis. Images of protests and uprisings in Kenya, Myanmar, Haiti, El Salvador and Georgia, sit alongside unexpected portraits of those in political power in the USA and Germany. Meanwhile, the world is seen in the selection from the perspectives of a range of people - for example, the young; a 21 year old transgender man in the Netherlands, a Palestinian child coping with amputation after injury in Gaza, a young Ukrainian girl traumatised by war, and a contemplative young man on his wedding day in Sudan. Tamale Safale, the first disabled athlete ever in Uganda to compete against able bodied athletes is featured. This year, again, images captured in some of the world’s current conflicts are included, such as from Lebanon and Palestine. The delicate and often fraught relationship between humans and animals is viewed via differing types of interactions with elephants in Zambia and monkeys in Thailand. The impact of the climate crisis is shown in works looking in depth at disasters, from Peru to Brazil to the Philippines. Elsewhere, a celebration of Pride is held at a secret location in Lagos, Nigeria, where members of the LGBTQI+ community can face legal prosecution.

World Press Photo prohibits the use of AI images in its contest - both generative fill and fully generated images. A multilayered approach to spotting fake or manipulated images is used. We verify the professionality of all entrants, and the facts behind each story. The images are judged by industry professionals, and the original files are examined by two independent digital analysts. (More information)

Details about the contest and judging process are available on our website, including information about: Prizes, categories, jury, and judging process.

For more information and to arrange interviews, please contact

United Kingdom, European Union and Middle East:
Nicola Jeffs <nj@nicolajeffs.com>
+447794694754

Rest of World:

Alexandra Fanning <alex@alexandrafanning.com>
(347) 468-0735

About World Press Photo

World Press Photo is an independent non-profit organization that champions the power of photojournalism and documentary photography to deepen understanding, promote dialogue, and inspire action.

Founded in the Netherlands in 1955, our annual and thematic exhibitions reach millions of people in over 80 locations world-wide each year, and our online work reaches millions more. We create space for reflection in times of urgency, while upholding standards of accuracy, authenticity, visual excellence, and diverse perspectives. Our education programs help photographers reach these standards, and members of the public recognize them.

We are thankful for the support of our funders, particularly our strategic partners the Dutch Postcode Lottery, PwC, and FUJIFILM Corporation.

For more information, visit www.worldpressphoto.org or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Bluesky, and YouTube.

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