In April 2025, Qatar-based Palestinian photographer Samar Abu Elouf won the ‘2025 World Press Photo of the Year’ for her poignant image of nine-year-old Mahmoud Ajjour, a Gazan boy who lost both arms in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City(Palestine) in March 2024.
- The photograph, captured for The New York Times (NYT), a newspaper based in New York, the United States of America (USA), highlights the human cost of the Gaza conflict.
- The winners and two finalists of the 2025 World Press Photo Contest were announced during the World Press Photo Exhibition in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. This exhibition will tour over 60 locations worldwide.
Note: In 2024, Palestinian photojournalist Mohammed Jadallah Salem won the World Press Photo of the Year for his image of a Palestinian woman cradling her five-year-old niece killed in Gaza.
About the Winning Photo:
i.The image shows Mahmoud bathed in warm light, gazing out a window in Doha (Qatar), where he now resides after being evacuated from Gaza in December 2023.
ii.Mahmoud lost his arms in March 2024 while fleeing an Israeli attack in Gaza City (Palestine). An explosion severed one arm and mutilated the other as he urged his family to run.
About the 2025 World Press Photo:
i.The 68th World Press Photo contest received over 59,320 images from nearly 3,778 photographers across 141 countries. Two finalists were also honored:
- “Night Crossing” by John Moore (USA) for Washington (USA) based Getty Images, depicting Chinese migrants huddling for warmth after crossing the US–Mexico border.
- “Droughts in the Amazon” by Musuk Nolte (Peru) for London (United Kingdom, UK) based Panos Pictures and London based Bertha Foundation, showing a young man carrying food to his mother across a dry riverbed in Manacapuru (Brazil), reflecting the Amazon rainforest’s climate crisis.
ii.The winning photographs will be showcased at the World Press Photo Exhibition 2025, opening at MPB Gallery at Here East, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London, UK, from May 23 to August 25, 2025.
iii.The World Press Photo of the Year winner will also receive a cash prize of 10,000 Euros.
About World Press Photo:
Executive Director (ED) – Joumana El Zein Khoury
Headquarters – Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Founded – 1955
