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.
On 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.
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.
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 transgender teen 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.
The 2025 Contest also takes place as part of the 70th anniversary celebrations for World Press Photo - providing an opportunity to view these stories in a historical perspective. The contest is increasingly globally representative in recent years thanks to our regional contest model. This year, 30 out of 42 winners were also local to the country where they photographed their project.
"The world is not the same as it was in 1955 when World Press Photo was founded. We live in a time when it is easier than ever to look away, to scroll past, to disengage. But these images do not let us do that. They cut through the noise, forcing us to acknowledge what is unfolding, even when it is uncomfortable, even when it makes us question the world we live in - and our own role within it."
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.
The awarded photographs were selected from 59,320 entries received from 3,778 photographers from 141 countries. They were judged first by six regional juries, and the winners were then chosen by an independent global jury consisting of the regional jury chairs plus the global jury chair.
"We made our choices with an eye on the final mix. As much as the World Press Photo Contest award is an immense recognition for photographers, often working under difficult circumstances, it is also a recap of the world's major events, however incomplete. As a jury we were looking for pictures that people can start conversations around."
On 17 April 2025 at 11:00am CEST (Amsterdam time), the 2025 World Press Photo of the Year and two further 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. Every winning photograph from 2024 is eligible to win Photo of the Year.
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.
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:
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.
For 2025, World Press Photo has made some updates to the categories, prizes and regions for the annual World Press Photo Contest, following thoughtful discussions with photographers, jury members, exhibition partners and others. Read more.
Details about the contest and judging process are available on our website, including information about: Prizes, categories, jury, and judging process.
Please email us for a media kit including images for press use.
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