The World Press Photo 2024 international competition announced the winners, including Ukrainian photojournalist Yulia Kochetova and German photographer Johanna Maria Fritz.
Yulia Kochetova received an award in the European region for documenting Russiaʼs war against Ukraine in the project "War is personal". This work is an interactive page that combines photos, correspondence, drawings and audio. Music for the project was created by Ukrainian DJ Daria Kolomiets, and illustrations by Oleksandr Komʼyakhov. You can view this project here.
Kochetovaʼs project.
According to the competition jury, the emotional images make the presentation more expressive than many other works about the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
"The fascinating use of audio and illustrations, particularly in the poetry diary and audio recordings, particularly attracted attention. This gave the work a cinematic quality," the jury noted.
Yuliya Kochetova is a Ukrainian photojournalist who, after the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation into Ukraine, actively covered the consequences of the war. Her works have been published by such international media as the BBC, The Guardian, The Telegraph, The National Geographic and others.
German photographer Johanna Maria Fritz also received the World Press Photo 2024 award in the European region for her coverage of the flood in the Kherson region due to the Russians blowing up the Kakhovskaya HPP in June 2023. She shot a photo report for Die Zeit publication "Kakhov Dam: Flooding in the War Zone."
The jury was "impressed" by how Fritzʼs pictures highlight the environmental impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. According to the judges, this project invites viewers to think about man-made natural disasters and the impact of war on nature.
Johanna Maria Fritz is a photographer who shoots reports in Ukraine and the East. She focuses on highlighting the lives of disadvantaged groups, especially women and those living in conflict zones.