Reuters photographer wins World Press Photo of the Year award with poignant photo from Gaza

PARIS (AP) — Reuters photographer Mohammed Salem won the prestigious World Press Photo of the Year award on Thursday with a depiction of loss and grief in Gaza, a heartbreaking photo of a Palestinian woman cradling the body of her young niece . The photograph, taken in Khan Younis just days after the birth of Salem’s own child, shows Inas Abu Maamar, 36, holding five-year-old Saly, who was killed along with her mother and sister when an Israeli missile struck their house.

Salem, who is Palestinian, described the photo taken on November 2 last year as a “powerful and sad moment that encapsulates the broader meaning of what was happening in the Gaza Strip.”

The image “really encapsulates that feeling of impact,” said Fiona Shields, chair of the global jury and head of photography at The Guardian newspaper. “It’s incredibly moving to see and at the same time it’s an argument for peace, which is extremely powerful when peace can sometimes seem like an improbable fantasy,” she added.

The World Press Photo jury praised the photo’s sense of care and respect and that it offers a “metaphorical and literal insight into unimaginable loss.”

This is not the first time Salem has been recognized for his work on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; he received a World Press Photo award more than a decade ago for another depiction of the human toll of the conflict in the Gaza Strip.

In the other three global categories announced Thursday, South African Lee-Ann Olwage won the Photo Story of the Year award for her touching series “Valim-babena,” featured in GEO magazine. The project focused on the stigma of dementia in Madagascar, a subject she explored through intimate portraits of “Dada Paul” and his family. Lack of public awareness of dementia means that people with symptoms of memory loss are often stigmatized.

In the series, “Dada Paul”, suffering from dementia for 11 years, is tenderly cared for by his daughter Fara. One of the most notable images in the series shows him getting ready for church with his granddaughter Odliatemix, capturing moments of normalcy and warmth amid the challenges of dementia.

Photographer Alejandro Cegarra, a native of Venezuela who emigrated to Mexico in 2017, won the long-term project award for “The Two Walls,” published by the New York Times and Bloomberg. Cegarra’s project, launched in 2018, examines a shift in Mexico’s immigration policies from a historic open policy to enforcing strict regulations at its southern border. The jury said the photographer’s perspective as a migrant gave him a “sensitive” and human-centered perspective, according to a press release.

Ukrainian Julia Kochetova won the Open Format prize for “War Is Personal”. The project stands out from coverage of the ongoing conflict by offering a personal look at the harsh realities of war. On a dedicated website, she has fused traditional photojournalism with a diary-style documentary style, incorporating photography, poetry, audio clips and music.

The Associated Press won the Open Format award in the Africa regional category with the multimedia story “Adrift,” created by journalists Renata Brito and Felipe Dana. The story investigates the fate of West African migrants who attempted to reach Europe via a dangerous Atlantic route, but ended up on a ghost ship discovered off the coast of Tobago. The team’s compelling use of photography, cinematography and detailed storytelling, enhanced by expert design and multimedia elements, highlights the perils faced by migrants and the human stories behind the problems of global migration.

Ebrahim Noroozi of the Associated Press won the Asia Stories award for his series “Afghanistan on the Edge,” which documents the country since the Taliban took power in August 2021.

World Press Photo is an independent, non-profit organization based in the Netherlands and founded in 1955.