World Press Photo 2020: Conflict zones

On Thursday evening in Amsterdam, the Foundation of the World Press Photo Award announced the winners of the photo competition in eight categories and the Digital Storytelling section in three categories.

The main prize of the 63rd World Press Photo Awards went to Yasuyoshi Chiba of Japan. His photo shows a young Sudanese man surrounded by other young people illuminating him with their mobile phones. Holding his left hand in front of his chest, he appears to be declaiming something. Chiba took the photo during a power outage in Khartoum, Sudan amid protests against dictator Omar al-Bashir.

The same shot also won the Nairobi-based AFP photographer an award in the sub-category General News. "This was the only peaceful group protest I witnessed during my stay," Yasuyoshi Chiba said about the moment he took the picture. "I felt their unbroken solidarity like glowing ashes that could flare up again at any moment."

Photo stories and Digital storytelling

This year's winner of the World Press Photo Story — like the prize for the best single picture, it is endowed with cash award of €10,000 ($10,900) — is Romain Laurendeau. The French photographer documented angry Algerian youths in his photo story "Kho, the Genesis of a Revolt." This award honors outstanding reports on events or topics of journalistic importance. Other stories nominated in the categories General News, Long-Term Observation and Nature included photo series about the consequences of a plane crash in Ethiopia, the fires in Australia, the Syrian war and animal rights activists rescuing orangutans. Arms trafficking, the revolts in Hong Kong, abortion in Belarus and the ongoing fighting in Afghanistan were the subjects of additional entries.

With digital storytelling prizes being awarded for the tenth time, the winner in the Interactive category is DJ Clark, whose "Battleground PolyU" for China Daily is a 360-degree experience of the protests in Hong Kong. Users find themselves thrust into the November 2019 blockade of the Polytechnic University at a moment when the protests reached their climax. "Scenes from a Dry City" by Francois Verster and Simon Wood deals with the water shortage in Cape Town, South Africa. It took top honors as online video of the year and the "Long" subcategory. The New York Times' online video "It's Mutilation" placed first in the "Short" subcategory.

'Connecting the World to the stories that matter'

Now the world's largest photojournalism competition, the World Press Photo Award started in 1955 when a group of Dutch photographers gathered to present their work to a global audience. The group became a non-profit foundation that focuses on photographers who portray current developments worldwide. As stated on the award website, its mission is to "connect the world to the stories that matter," the core values being "accuracy, diversity and transparency."

The foundation exhibits individual pictures and photo series in travelling exhibitions and festivals, encouraging people to take a closer look and — ideally — do something about the problems. In addition to the contest, the foundation offers numerous programs designed to help "guide photo reporters, storytellers and viewers around the world through a challenging and exciting landscape" that is constantly evolving in media and technology. They include a special program for young talents, a database for African photojournalists, workshops and numerous other initiatives in various countries.

Vast number of entries

Chaired by Lekgetho Makola from South Africa, the independent jury was made up of nine women and eight men, all professionals with a wide variety of photographic backgrounds. Their task was to award works that made events or topics of journalistic importance visible over the past year.

More than 4,200 photographers from 125 countries submitted almost 74,000 photos in the 2020 contest; by the end of February, 44 photographers from 24 countries including Algeria, Ethiopia, Germany, Lithuania, Peru, Russia, South Africa, the US and Belarus had been nominated for an award.

Exhibitions cancelled due to the corona pandemic

All photos nominated for the World Press Photo Award are published in a yearbook. The award-winning photos usually go on a world tour to more than 45 countries, visited by about four million people. In Germany, the winning photos were scheduled to be showcased in Hamburg from May 8 to 31. The exhibition was called off for the time being due to the coronavirus pandemic, but the winning photos can be seen online.