World Press Photo Contest announces Global Winners 2023

015_World Press Photo Open Format Award_Mohamed Mahdy

The 2023 World Press Photo Contest has announced its four global winners! Chosen from thousands of entries, the winning images highlight the cost of war, the importance of peace, and the impact of climate change.

Photo of the year

Evgeniy Maloletka has been awarded the ‘Photo of the Year’. The image has been taken during the siege of Mariupol and depicts the human suffering caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

001_World Press Photo of the Year_Evgeniy Maloletka_Associated Press
Iryna Kalinina (32), an injured pregnant woman, is carried from a maternity hospital that was damaged during a Russian airstrike in Mariupol, Ukraine, on 9 March 2022. Her baby, named Miron (after the word for ‘peace’) was stillborn, and half an hour later Iryna died as well. An OSCE report concluded the hospital was deliberately targeted by Russia, resulting in three deaths and some 17 injuries.
story of the year

Mads Nissen won in the category ‘Story of the Year’. Nine haunting images show Afghanistan under the rule of the Taliban. This story strongly reminds us of the ongoing struggles faced by the Afghan people.

The wall of the former US-embassy in Kabul is now covered by a huge Taliban propaganda mural. In front of the former security wall, street vendors are now selling Taliban posters and merchandise.
long-term project award

Anush Babajanyan‘s long-term project is exploring the impact of water management issues in Central Asia and has been awarded the ‘Long-Term Project Award’. 

Kazakhstan: A hot spring has emerged on the former bed of the Aral Sea, near Akespe village, and is often visited for healing purposes. Over the years the Aral Sea has lost 90 percent of its waters. Shared by Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, this formerly fourth largest lake in the world began to retreat in 1960s, with the Soviet project of diverting the rivers Syr Darya and Amu Darya to serve the cotton industry.
open format award

Mohamed Mahdy‘s collaborative effort to preserve the fastly disappearing fishing village of Al Max in Egypt has won the ‘Open Format Award’. This project involves neighbors as much as the public, participating through a website that collects materials involving the Al Max village. 

Photograph from Here, The Doors Don’t Know Me.

Executive Director of the World Press Photo Foundation, Joumana El Zein Khoury, said:

“Millions of people around the world will look at these photos and see death, despair, loss, and crisis. My wish is that they also see what I see. The hope that through documentation there is a chance of justice and a better future, through remembering we honor what is lost, and through the courage and dedication of these photographers we are inspired. 

By highlighting these global winners, we hope to help people understand the world we all share a little bit more. I find myself thinking about how the people in these photos are not so much different from myself, bringing me to care more about what is happening to them. That is the indispensable benefit of photojournalism and documentary photography that I hope everyone who views these stories will also appreciate.”

The annual exhibition, taking place in over 60 cities worldwide, including Amsterdam (opening on April 22), Rome, Berlin, Barcelona, Zurich, Tel Aviv, Taipei, Singapore, Mexico City, Jakarta, Sydney, and Toronto, will feature the winning stories, as well as other projects. The exhibition will also be available online, allowing millions more to view these stories.

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