In one week, the world will see the winning photographs of the 2025 World Press Photo Contest. This moment is always charged with anticipation. These images will be elevated around the world - not just as a testament to journalistic excellence but as a call to engage. What do they reveal about where we are today? And, importantly, how will we respond?
As we prepare for this announcement, we also mark World Press Photo’s 70th anniversary - seventy years of bearing witness, presenting diverse perspectives, and making difficult choices. But this milestone is not just about looking back at what we have done; it is about reflecting on how we want to move forward with change, conviction and complexity. What does it mean to document the world today, when images are not only taken but manipulated, questioned, and contested? How do we balance truth-telling with the immense pressures of an evolving media landscape?
Now is not the time to simplify complex realities but rather to make sense of complexity - to acknowledge nuance, multiple perspectives and the depth of global stories. In a world where misinformation thrives on oversimplification, it's more important than ever to show the full picture, not just the easy version of it.
The world is not the same as it was in 1955 when World Press Photo was founded. The media landscape is unrecognisable, with digital platforms reshaping how we consume news. Press freedom is under siege in many parts of the world, and misinformation spreads faster than the truth. In this reality, our role has been evolving.
Looking back at recent years, we have already made meaningful, deliberate changes - demonstrating that we are not only willing but ready to adapt when it is thoughtful and necessary. In 2021, I reflected on
my first 100 days at World Press Photo, that our mission hasn’t changed - but we’ve strengthened our messages, structures, and programmes.
What’s new is our focus on making our work visible in all its complexity. Why? Because there’s an attack on news, truth, and representation. That’s why it’s so important to highlight the care, ethics, and accuracy we bring to everything we do, because that is what demonstrates why we are trusted to recognise and award the best images from around the world.
As a 70-year-old organisation, we know that survival requires constant adaptation to the times. We continue to evolve because we are anchored in strong values that guide us - values that are the backbone of everything we do. We listen to the needs of our global community of photographers and partners, and we're not afraid to dive into difficult conversations or controversies. Our role is clear: to share the power and impact of documentary photography and photojournalism as widely as possible, engaging people in dialogue to nurture a deeper understanding of the world.
One of our most significant steps has been the
establishment of independent regional juries, which has expanded our global reach and strengthened both rigour and representation in our selection process. This shift has brought new ways of understanding how to look at the world - challenging dominant narratives and ensuring that a wider range of perspectives shape the stories we tell.
In 2023, for the first time in Europe, our exhibition faced restrictions that limited public access. In collaboration with our local partner, we fought for the right to share these stories -
important topics should not be discouraged. By 2024, we successfully exhibited the work without the previously imposed age restrictions - a significant achievement in ensuring global stories are seen and heard, despite challenges.
We’ve also focused on
contextualising our archive to better understand the broader implications of key themes and conflicts. By revisiting past images, we can trace how stories have unfolded over time and whether the underlying issues have changed or persisted. A notable example was our initiative last year, when, alongside Mohammed Salem’s Photo of the Year, we created a video featuring archival images that documented the Israel-Palestine conflict over decades. This helped highlight the deep historical roots of today’s pressing issues, which don’t exist in isolation. Such efforts reflect our commitment to providing a more comprehensive understanding of the themes dominating global news.
History warns us: authoritarianism rarely arrives with a dramatic takeover, but rather creeps in quietly - through small compromises, gradual indifference, and the normalisation of what should never be accepted. As photojournalism becomes more vital in documenting the truth, it also becomes vulnerable to being minimised or ignored, especially when its impact challenges political realities.
Too often, repeated images of suffering and crisis lead to compassion fatigue, numbing the public’s response to the gravity of what they see. But we cannot afford to be passive bystanders - not now, when photography has the power to map out the future being created. These images show us what is happening and give us the opportunity to make the best choices in how we respond.
We live in a time when it is easier than ever to look away, to scroll past, to disengage. But 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.
Many past images have evoked intense reactions, like the 1973 World Press Photo of the year - that is the power of photojournalism. But our responsibility extends beyond showcasing visual excellence; we provide accurate context and create opportunities for engagement. When an image resonates deeply, it has the potential to shift perspectives, and even alter the course of history. Our goal is to ensure that these moments of connection do not end with the photograph but lead to meaningful, real-world impact.
As Executive Director of World Press Photo, I often describe my role as a balancing act - between press freedom and political realities, between innovation and integrity, between adapting to change and upholding our values of trustworthiness, accuracy, transparency and diversity. But in reality, this is the same balance every journalist, documentary photographer, and newsroom faces today.
Being an independent non-profit gives us a degree of flexibility - often allowing us to avoid corporate or government agendas. However, it is becoming increasingly necessary to find ways of working within complex political realities, especially when it comes to showcasing our exhibitions and advocating for press freedom in geographies that have different principles of democracy. Our goal is always to make sure the photographs and stories we present are shown in their entirety, accurately reflecting the world as it is, and never shying away from difficult or uncomfortable truths. Again we lean into our values to guide us towards a more equitable industry, but with the understanding that sometimes we need to negotiate a middle ground, especially if our actions affect the safety of the photographers and audiences.
The fight for an independent and equitable press is inseparable from the fight to preserve fundamental freedoms. When journalism is threatened, so too are the rights and liberties of the people on the frontlines that we often take for granted. We remain steadfast in our commitment to upholding independent photojournalism and press freedom and advocating for a more just and transparent media landscape.
I am still grappling with the balance between reflection and action, but I’ve come to realise this balance shifts with every context. The urgency to respond immediately often clashes with the need for thoughtful, contextualised responses. At World Press Photo, we navigate this by pairing exhibitions with educational materials for the public, and creating tools with and for photojournalists and documentary photographers. Thoughtful engagement takes time, but it is essential to understand complexity.
