Photojournalists, this is your time to shine. The World Press Photo is back with its 2025 edition, and things are slightly different than before. This year, the contest is introducing a few more changes, especially at a time when journalism and democracy are both facing challenges from various fronts. Here’s a look at what they offer.
The lead image is the winner of the World Press Photo of the Year 2022, captured by Amber Bracken.
World Press Photo Wants More Winners
This year, the number of winners will go from 30 to 42. This is possible by introducing three winners in Single and Stories categories in every region. Moreover, the awards will have one winner per region in the Long-Term category. The change has been included to provide more flexibility and diversity while showcasing important stories from larger regions. Furthermore, the exhibition visitors have also commented that they miss stories about natural works and sports, so the hope is to make the contest more inclusive.
Honorable Mentions and Prizes
The 2025 edition of the World Press Photo also removes honorable mentions. This is because calling them honorable mentions as a distinction was unnecessary, especially when their works are included with the winners. Hence, there will only be winners this year.
Similarly, Story of the Year or the Long-Term Project Award will no longer have a separate global-level prize. World Press Photo of the Year, too, sees changes. Along with the winner, the awards will have two more runners-up this year. Furthermore, images from winning Single, Story, or Long-Term Project can also win the title award. The only criterion is that the winner of this grand prize will be chosen from images captured in 2024 issues.
The prizes have also been increased. The winner of World Press Photo of the Year will receive 10,000 euros ($10,547), and the runners-up will receive Fujifilm GFX cameras and lenses.
The additional monetary prize for World Press Photo of the Year will also increase to 10,000 euros. The Photo of the Year winner and both runners-up will also receive FUJIFILM GFX cameras and lenses. There is also an additional 1,000 euro prize for each winner across the board.
Removal of Open Format Category
“This was our most challenging decision, as we’ve had remarkable winners in this category over the past three years, making it difficult to let go,” World Press Photo wrote on its website. The decision, however, was made due to various factors: difficulty in projecting the work during exhibitions, getting more participation and verifying them based on the award’s guidelines. “As a result, we’ve decided to focus our resources on supporting the other categories, with special attention to increasing entries from countries and regions with historically lower participation,” they added. Although the category is important, they have chosen to put it on hold for now.
Changes to Regions
One of the major challenges was selecting entries from Asia. So, they have divided the region into two parts: Pacific Asia and Oceania and West, Central, and South Asia. This will help to have more winners while allowing World Press Photo to “assemble juries with a deep understanding of the distinct cultural and political contexts within each region.”
The changes surely sound confusing, but considering that more winners from diverse backgrounds get a chance to showcase their work, it sounds like a good opportunity. It remains to be seen which works will take the top honors in 2025.
The entries will be accepted from December 1 to January 10. The winners will be announced on March 27, but the winners of the Photo of the Year (with two runners-up) will be announced on April 17. An exhibition will also take place from 18 April.