We are pleased to introduce the nominees for the 63rd edition of the World Press Photo Contest, and the 10th edition of the Digital Storytelling Contest.
Request the media kit to see the nominees, download high-resolution images and find out more about the 2020 Photo Contest and the Digital Storytelling Contest.
Since 1955 the World Press Photo Contest has recognized professional photographers for the best pictures - presented as singles or stories in eight categories - contributing to the past year of visual journalism.
This year, the contest saw 4,282 photographers from 125 countries enter 73,996 images. The nominees are 44 photographers from 24 countries: Algeria, Australia, Belarus, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Mexico, Poland, Peru, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom, and United States.
An independent jury made up of 17 photography professionals, chaired by Lekgetho Makola, selected the best pictures and the stories that mattered in 2019. Protest and the role of the youth in activating change, were highlighted by the jury as a recurrent theme from the entries. Environmental stories were also prominent this year, and are represented in categories beyond the Environment category - Contemporary Issues, Nature, and Spot News - calling attention to the importance of the subject.
In 2019, the World Press Photo Foundation introduced a new award to the annual photo contest: the World Press Photo Story of the Year. On a par with the World Press Photo of the Year, this new award honors the photographer whose visual creativity and skills produced a story with excellent editing and sequencing that captures or represents an event or issue of great journalistic importance in 2019.
Visual storytellers are taking the time to cover stories, they’re looking at issues in-depth and from different perspectives. To recognize their creative excellence, their commitment to the story, and their storytelling skills, we’re happy to award the World Press Photo Story of the Year for the second time.” Lars Boering, managing director of the World Press Photo Foundation.
The three nominees for World Press Photo Story of the Year are:
Hong Kong Unrest
Nicolas Asfouri, Denmark, Agence France-Presse
Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 Crash Site
Mulugeta Ayene, Ethiopia, Associated Press
Kho, the Genesis of a Revolt
Romain Laurendeau, France
The World Press Photo of the Year honors the photographer whose visual creativity and skills made a picture that captures or represents an event or issue of great journalistic importance that year. It has come to be regarded as the most prestigious international award for photojournalism in the world.
The independent jury shortlisted six nominees for World Press Photo of the Year:
Relative Mourns Flight ET 302 Crash Victim
Mulugeta Ayene, Ethiopia, Associated Press
Clash with the Police During Anti-Government Demonstration
Farouk Batiche, Algeria, Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Straight Voice
Yasuyoshi Chiba, Japan, Agence France-Presse
Awakening
Tomek Kaczor, Poland, for Gazeta Wyborcza
Injured Kurdish Fighter Receives Hospital Visit
Ivor Prickett, Ireland, for The New York Times
Nothing Personal - the Back Office of War
Nikita Teryoshin, Russia
The jury also nominated three single images and three stories in each of the eight categories of the 2020 Photo Contest: Contemporary Issues, General News, Environment, Nature, Long-Term Projects, Portraits, Spot News, and Sports. See the category nominees in the gallery here.
2020 marks the 10th anniversary of the World Press Photo Digital Storytelling Contest, rewarding the best forms of visual journalism enabled by digital technologies.
For the second year, the Digital Storytelling Contest will award the World Press Photo Interactive of the Year and World Press Photo Online Video of the Year. These awards are on a par with World Press Photo of the Year and World Press Photo Story of the Year and will receive a cash prize of 10,000 euros each.
“2020 marks the 10th anniversary of the Digital Storytelling Contest. In its first decade, the contest has grown from 42 nominations in 2011 to 300 entries in 2019, and the awards have changed in response to developments in the industry. Last year, two headline awards were introduced: Interactive of the Year and Online Video of the Year. The 10th edition of the Digital Storytelling Contest will help draw even more attention to the diversity of formats made possible by digital platforms.” - Anna Lena Mehr, Contests director, World Press Photo Foundation.
This year, 287 productions were submitted to the contest: 81 productions in the Interactive category, 89 productions in the Long category and 117 in the Short Category.
An independent jury consisting of digital storytellers and multimedia editors from around the world selected the nominated productions. This year, Zoeann Murphy, visual journalist at The Washington Post, was the 2020 Digital Storytelling Contest Jury Chair.
The 2020 Digital Storytelling Contest nominees are nine productions from eight countries: Canada, China, Germany, India, Ireland, South Africa, United Kingdom and United States.
The three nominees for World Press Photo Interactive of the Year are:
Battleground PolyU
DJ Clark/China Daily
Common Ground
Darren Emerson/East City Films
River of Forgiveness
Helios Design Labs
The three nominees for World Press Photo Online Video of the Year are:
‘It’s Mutilation’: The Police in Chile Are Blinding Protesters
The New York Times
A Different Kind of Force – Policing Mental Illness
Ed Ou/Kitra Cahana
Scenes From a Dry City
Francois Verster/Simon Wood/Field of Vision
The jury also nominated three productions in the Short and Long categories. All productions nominated in the Interactive category are nominated for the Interactive of the Year. See the category nominees here.
The winners of the 2020 Photo Contest and the Digital Storytelling Contest will be announced on 16 April.
Both the World Press Photo of the Year and the World Press Photo Story of the Year awards carry a cash prize of 10,000 euros.
The prize-winning photographs are assembled into a year-long exhibition that visits 120 cities and 50 countries and is seen by more than 5 million people. The exhibition will premiere at De Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on 18 April. See all upcoming exhibitions in our calendar.
Request the media kit to see the nominees, download high-resolution images and find out more about the 2020 Photo Contest and the Digital Storytelling Contest.
