We are pleased to introduce the professionals from around the world who will select and award the best photojournalism and documentary photography of 2021.
The judging process of the 2022 World Press Photo Contest takes place in several rounds, over a six-week period, from 17 January to 2 March 2022. It involves regional juries and a global jury, and takes place both online and offline (COVID-19 permitting).
Regional juries
In each of the
six regions of our new contest model (Africa, Asia, Europe, North and Central America, South America, and Southeast Asia and Oceania), a selection of entries per category will first be made by a regional jury.
Find out more about the judging process.
Each jury has a chair responsible for maintaining the integrity of the process, ensuring the deliberations are conducted in accordance with the highest standards, and that all jury members are fully involved in the judging process.
Africa
- Chair: N'Goné Fall, Senegal, independent curator
- Ala Kheir, Sudan, photographer
- Etinosa Yvonne, Nigeria, documentary photographer and visual artist
- John Wessels, South Africa, photographer
- Zohra Bensemra, Algeria, photojournalist
Asia
- Chair: Tanzim Wahab, Bangladesh, director, Chobi Mela International Photography Festival
- Abbas Kowsari, Iran, senior photo editor, Shargh Daily
- Lam Yik Fei, Hong Kong, photographer
- Sangsuk Sylvia Kang, South Korea, photographer, curator and photo editor, TIME
- Tasneem Alsultan, Saudi Arabia, photographer and visual storyteller
Europe
- Chair: Simona Ghizzoni, Italy, photographer, artist and activist for women's rights
- István Virágvölgyi, Hungary, curator and photo editor, Robert Capa Contemporary Photography Center
- Mads Nissen, Denmark, photographer
- Nestan Nijaradze, Georgia, co-founder and artistic director, Tbilisi Photo Festival and Tbilisi Photography & Multimedia Museum
- Stephanie Harke, Germany, freelance photo editor and photographer
North and Central America
- Chair: Clare Vander Meersch, Canada, photo editor, The Globe and Mail, founding member, Magenta Foundation
- Brent Lewis, United States, photo editor, The New York Times, co-founder, Diversify Photo
- Josué Rivas, Mexico, co-founder, INDÍGENA
- Tomas Ayuso, Honduras, photojournalist
- Veronica Sanchis Bencomo, Spain/Venezuela, photographer and founder, Foto Féminas
South America
- Chair: Ernesto Benavides, Peru, documentary photographer
- Denise Camargo, Brazil, photographer and professor
- Fabiola Ferrero, Venezuela, photographer
- Geovanny 'Gato' Villegas Sánchez, Ecuador, photographer and audiovisual producer
- Veronica Cordeiro, Brazil, curator and artist
Southeast Asia and Oceania
- Chair: Jessica Lim, Singapore, director, Angkor Photo Festival & Workshops
- Ezra Acayan, Philippines, photographer
- Linh Pham, Vietnam, photographer and co-founder, Matca
- Mags King, United Kingdom, managing photo editor, The Sydney Morning Herald
- Yoppy Pieter, Indonesia, visual storyteller and educator
Global jury
The global jury is composed of the six regional jury chairs and one additional member, the global jury chair. Once the regional juries have made their selection of entries, the global jury will decide on 24 regional winners and from those, they will choose the four global winners: World Press Photo of the Year, World Press Photo Story of the Year, World Press Photo Long-Term Project Award, and the World Press Photo Open Format Award.
The global jury is assisted by a secretary. The secretary is responsible for all procedural matters and ensures the rules and procedures are fairly and properly applied. The secretary does not contribute to debate on the merits of any entry, and has no vote in the balloting.
Chair: Rena Effendi, Azerbaijan, photographer
- Africa jury chair: N'Goné Fall, Senegal, independent curator
- Asia jury chair: Tanzim Wahab, Bangladesh, director, Chobi Mela International Photography Festival
- Europe jury chair: Simona Ghizzoni, Italy, photographer, artist and activist for women's rights
- North and Central America jury chair: Clare Vander Meersch, Canada, photo editor, The Globe and Mail, founding member, Magenta Foundation
- South America jury chair: Ernesto Benavides, Peru, documentary photographer
- Southeast Asia and Oceania jury chair: Jessica Lim, Singapore, director, Angkor Photo Festival & Workshops
Secretary: Loup Langton, United States, photographer and editor
2022 World Press Photo Contest global jury chair
Rena Effendi, photographer, will chair the 2022 World Press Photo Contest global jury.
Focusing on issues of conflict, social justice and the environment, Rena Effendi is a documentary photographer from Baku, Azerbaijan. She is currently based in Istanbul, Turkey.
“Certain perspectives have been dominating the media landscape for a long time. This year World Press Photo is moving in the right direction with a new regional format, which will allow and ensure representation of diverse storytellers from around the world to be spotlighted. As global jury chair for the 2022 World Press Photo Contest, I am proud to be part of this exciting new chapter,” stated Rena Effendi.
She added, “The World Press Photo Contest is a unique platform for the more subtle yet unique human interest stories, which somehow slipped through the cracks of the mainstream media’s attention, to get worldwide attention and exposure.”
Portrait credit: Chris Openshaw
