Previously, we reported on some of the gear used for the World Press Photo Awards for 2024. And now, we’ve got the best of the final four global winners being announced. Their images cover sides of important photojournalistic stories that aren’t seen very much in the media. However, the images are important and convey stories that genuinely need to be shared. Here are the final four global winners for 2024.
All images are provided with permission from the World Press Photo Organization.
Table of Contents
WORLD PRESS PHOTO STORY OF THE YEAR: Valim-babena Lee-Ann Olwage, South Africa, for GEO
In Madagascar, lack of public awareness surrounding dementia means that people displaying symptoms of memory loss are often stigmatized. For years, Paul Rakotozandriny, “Dada Paul”, (91), who lives with dementia, has been cared for by his daughter Fara Rafaraniriana (41). Their story illustrates the Malagasy principle of valim-babena – the duty of grown children to help their parents. With its dignified, intimate approach, this project presents another perspective on the issue, resonating with families across the world, while at the same time challenging conflict-focused stereotypes of Africa.
What we love so much about this project is the fact that it’s not only about family, but about a problem that’s been plaguing humans for many years. If you’ve seen or known someone who had dementia, you’ll realize how much they rot away after a while. While being with them can be very frustrating and the process can be heart breaking for family members, the images are important for us to remember that these people are humans, too. There are many folks that we sincerely just need to take care of to make society function better and because it’s the morally right thing to do.
WORLD PRESS PHOTO LONG-TERM PROJECT AWARD: The Two Walls Alejandro Cegarra, Venezuela, The New York Times/Bloomberg
Since 2019, Mexico has transformed from a country that welcomed migrants and asylum seekers at its southern border to one that enforces strict immigration policies very similar to those of the United States. Immigration and foreign policies implemented by different US administrations, COVID-19 protocols, and political and economic turmoil across Central and South America contribute to the ongoing crisis at Mexico’s borders. These factors expose migrant families to violence, corruption, and precarious conditions in border towns. Informed by his own experience of migrating from his home in Venezuela to Mexico in 2017, photographer Alejandro Cegarra initiated this project in 2018 to document the plight of these deeply vulnerable migrant communities and highlight, with respect and sensitivity, their resilience.
Like the previous story before it, this is a story of humanity. Migrants often move from one place to another for very good reasons. Typically, it’s because people want to have a better life. Those come with a whole host of problems like issues around global warming. In many places, deforestation has massively limited food supplies while in other areas, a big issue is around water. Still, much of it also has to do with greed and what we’re doing to the planet.
WORLD PRESS PHOTO OPEN FORMAT AWARD War Is Personal: Julia Kochetova, Ukraine
Amidst tens of thousands of civilian and military casualties and an effective stalemate that has lasted for months, there are no signs of peace on the horizon for Russia’s war in Ukraine. While news media updates its audience with statistics and maps, and international attention drifts elsewhere, the photographer has created a personal website that brings together photojournalism with the personal documentary style of a diary to show the world what it is like to live with war as an everyday reality.
It war in Ukraine has affected so much of the global economy and life in general.
WORLD PRESS PHOTO OF THE YEAR A Palestinian Woman Embraces the Body of Her Niece Mohammed Salem, Palestine, Reuters
Inas Abu Maamar (36) cradles the body of her niece Saly (5) who was killed, along with four other family members, when an Israeli missile struck their home. Khan Younis, Gaza, 17 October 2023
At the outset of the Israel-Hamas war, Israel instructed Gazans to evacuate to the south for their safety. Yet, according to reports from The Guardian and Al Jazeera, Israeli airstrikes heavily bombarded Khan Younis in southern Gaza from mid-October. Many of those killed were families who had left Gaza City days earlier. By the end of 2023, Palestinian women and children accounted for more than two-thirds of the death toll in Gaza, according to OHCHR. The photographer describes this photo, taken just days after his own wife gave birth, as a “powerful and sad moment that sums up the broader sense of what was happening in the Gaza Strip”.
There’s so much to say about this heartbreaking image that we’re not sure where to start.