The photo of Inas Abu Maamar holding in his arms his great-niece Saly, killed during an Israeli strike in the Gaza Strip, won the first prize at the World Press Photo this Thursday, April 18. It is the work of Mohammed Salem, photographer for the Reuters agency.
A poignant and metaphorical image. That of a grieving Palestinian woman holding her grandniece, killed in an Israeli strike in the war-torn Gaza Strip. The photo, the work of Mohammed Salem, photographer for the Reuters agency, won first prize at the prestigious World Press Photo this Thursday, April 18. The photo was taken 10 days after the start of the conflict, sparked by an unprecedented Hamas attack on Israel.
It shows Inas Abu Maamar cradling the body of his five-year-old niece, Saly, killed along with her mother and sister by a missile that struck their home in Khan Younes in October. The photographer was at Nasser Hospital in this town in the southern Gaza Strip on October 17 when he saw Inas Abu Maamar, 36, in tears at the morgue, holding the body of the little girl wrapped in a white cloth.
“It was a powerful and sad moment and I felt the image summed up in a broad sense what was happening in the Gaza Strip”declared Mohammed Salem, quoted in a World Press Photo press release. “It’s a truly deeply touching imagesaid Fiona Shields, president of the jury. Once you see it, it kind of sticks in your mind.” The picture is “as a kind of literal and metaphorical message about the horror and futility of conflict” to be present “an incredibly powerful argument for peace”she added.
South African Lee-Ann Olwage, shooting for GEO magazine, won the “Story of the Year” prize with her intimate portrait of a Malagasy family living with an elderly parent suffering from dementia. “This story addresses a universal health issue through the lens of family and care”declared the judges, for whom “the series of images is composed with warmth and tenderness, reminding audiences of the love and intimacy needed in times of war and aggression around the world”.
Venezuelan photographer Alejandro Cegarra won the “long term” project prize with his monochrome images of migrants and asylum seekers attempting to cross Mexico’s southern border, taken for the New York Times/Bloomberg. Having himself a migrant experience, Alejandro Cegarra “offered a sensitive, human-centered perspective”highlighting the resilience of migrants, according to the jury.
In the “open format” category, Ukrainian Julia Kochetova won with her website War is Personal qui “combines photojournalism with the personal documentary style of a diary to show the world what it means to live with war as a daily reality”.
The winning photos in 2024 were selected from 61,062 entries submitted by 3,851 photographers from 130 countries. They are on display in the Nieuwe Kerk church in Amsterdam until July 14.
