A photograph shedding light on the realities of the war in Gaza, the challenging journey of migrants from China navigating South and Central America on their journey to North America, and a representation of Brazil's historic droughts and their impact on local and Indigenous communities have been given the 2025 World Press Photo Contest headline awards.
The World Press Photo of the Year was selected from the 42 winners of the 2025 Contest, chosen from more than 59,000 entries. Every photographer awarded in the 2025 Contest was eligible to win this award. The entries were judged first by six regional juries and all winners were chosen by a global jury consisting of the regional jury chairs plus the global jury chair.
Lucy Conticello, Director of Photography for Le Monde’s M Magazine, and 2025 Contest global Jury chair 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.”
Chinese migrants warm themselves during a cold rain after crossing the US–Mexico border. Campo, California, on 7 March 2024.
Unauthorized immigration from China to the US has increased dramatically in recent years due to a host of factors, including China’s struggling economy and financial losses after strict zero-COVID policies. Moreover, people are being influenced by video tutorials on how to get across the border, shown on Chinese social media platforms. 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.
The jury commented that, “the frame's otherworldly quality, paired with the tenderness between parent and child, invites reflection and evokes questions about the uncertainty that lies ahead. In a single picture, the photographer conveys both immense vulnerability and resilience.”
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 the dry
riverbed of the Solimões River to reach her. Amazonas, Brazil, on 5 October 2024. This image is part of the project Droughts in the Amazon.
The Amazon River is experiencing record low-water levels due to severe drought intensified by climate change. This ecological crisis threatens biodiversity, disrupts ecosystems, and impacts local communities reliant on rivers for survival. As droughts intensify, many settlers face the difficult choice of abandoning their land and livelihoods for urban areas, changing the social fabric of this region permanently. This project makes the effects of climate change, which can so often be abstract or difficult to represent, appear as a tangible and concrete reality shaping the futures of vulnerable communities closely connected with the natural world.
The jury felt this project was critical to highlight, as it documents unprecedented drought in the Amazon and its profound impact on communities connected to natural cycles. This work powerfully illustrates the consequences of climate change—landscapes transformed, livelihoods disrupted, and the urgent need for adaptation.
These stories, alongside the other winners, will be shown to millions of people as part of our annual exhibition in over 60 cities around the world - including Amsterdam (open from 18 April - 21 September), Rome, Berlin, Vienna, Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, Montreal, Jakarta, and Sydney. See our exhibitions calendar.
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