Last Updated on 04/12/2019 by Mark Beckenbach
If you’ve been excited to see the winning photos of this year’s World Press Photo contest, the wait is now over!
Previously, World Press Photo shared with us their impressive shortlist for the 2019 Press Photo Contest, where the nominees had the chance to bag the World Press Photo of the Year and World Press Photo Story of the Year awards. The winning photos have already been chosen, so if you’re among those who are following the competition closely, the wait for the results is now over!
This year, the competition results call for greater awareness on immigration and border issues as among today’s most pressing social themes. Besting the rest of the nominees in their award categories are Getty images senior staff photographer and special correspondent John Moore (United States), who received the World Press Photo of the Year award for his winning image Crying Girl on the Border; and Paris-based Agency VU member Pieter Ten Hoopen (Netherlands/Sweden), who bagged the World Press Photo Story of the Year award for his series The Migrant Caravan.
Moore’s winning image shows Honduran toddler Yanela Sanchez in tears next to her mother Sandra Sanchez as US border officials in McAllen, Texas took them into custody on June 12, 2018. According to jury chair and National Geographic Vice President for Visuals and Immersive Experiences Whitney C. Johnson, the photo deserving of the World Press Photo of the Year should ideally be “surprising, unique, relevant, and memorable,” and the winning photograph had all these qualities. “The details in the picture are interesting. From the gloves that the border patrol officer is wearing to the fact that the shoelaces have been removed.”
Hoopen’s series, meanwhile, documents the biggest migrant caravan in recent history. UN agencies mention that as many as 7,000 travelers (at least 2,300 of them children), were part of the diaspora. During October and October 2018, a grassroots social media campaign got the caravan started, gathering people from its starting point in San Pedro Sula in Honduras to Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatemala. Caravans like this travel to the United States border to escape political repression, violence, and harsh economic conditions. This series, said independent photography curator and jury member Yumi Goto, shows a high sense of dignity that speaks of hope and what it really means.
The announcement also unveiled the winners for various categories in Singles and Stories. Moore also bagged the first prize for Spot News – Singles, while Hoopen scored the first prize for Spot News – Stories.
As reported earlier, the 2019 World Press Photo Contest winners will receive a Golden Eye Award and a diploma, as well as a cash prize of 10,000 Euros. All nominees will be invited to attend both the awarding ceremony and the World Press Photo Festival 2019 slated for April 12-13.
Visit The World Press Photo website to see the winning entries in all categories and find out more about the competition.