The World Press Photo Foundation announced the winners of its 2024 World Press Photo Contest. The first-place stories were about wars in Gaza, Ukraine, migration, families, and dementia. They told heartbreaking stories on important topics.
World Press Photo of the Year
Mohammed Salem, a Palestinian photographer, won the World Press Photo of the Year award for a single photograph. The image, A Palestinian woman embraces the body of herNiece is a self-explanatory one. It’s also heartbreaking. Mohammed captured the image just days after the birth of his wife. He describes it as “a powerful and sad moment which sums up what was going on in Gaza”.
The jury commented that the image was composed carefully and respectfully, giving a literal and metaphorical glimpse of unimaginable loss.
World Press Photo Story of the year
Lee-Ann Olwage, from South Africa, won the first prize for the World Press Photo Story of the Year. Lee-Ann Olwage’s Valim – Babenafollows Odliatemix and “Dada” Paul. His daughter Fara has been caring for him since he was diagnosed with dementia 11 years ago.
The photographer says that in Madagascar, people with memory loss who display symptoms are stigmatized because of the lack of awareness. This story is a part of Lee Ann’s larger body of work on dementia.