The World Press Photo 2024 international competition announced the winners, including Ukrainian photojournalist Yulia Kochetova. Her project "War is personal" won the Open Format Award category.
Kochetovaʼs 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 Komyakhov. Kochetova combined photojournalism with the personal documentary style of a diary to show the world what itʼs like to live with war as an everyday reality. You can view her project here.
Photo of the year
The photo of the year was the photo of Mohammed Salem. In it, 36-year-old Inas Abu Maamar holds the body of her 5-year-old niece Sali, wrapped in polyethylene.
Sali, her mother and sister were killed in their home in the Gaza Strip after an Israeli strike. World Press Photo Foundation Executive Director Elle Zein Khoury called the work the most powerful photo submitted this year.
Story of the year
The winner in this category was the project Valim-babena by photographer Leigh-Ann Olvage, which tells about the tradition of care for dementia patients in Madagascar. In Madagascar, there is a lack of information about this disease, so there is often stigmatization of people who show signs of memory loss.
The jury notes that Leigh-Ann Olwage has compiled a selection of photographs with special tenderness and care.
Long-term project
The award for the best long-term project went to the work of Alejandro Segarra from Venezuela. "Two Walls" is a story about how Mexicoʼs policy towards migrants has changed since 2019. The personal experience of Alejandro Segarra, who came to Mexico from Venezuela, gives the story a personal character and depth of understanding of the topic, the jury emphasized.
World Press Photo is a competition for all professional photographers working in the field of photojournalism or documentary photography. Winners are determined every year: first at the regional level, and then at the global level.
- Ukrainian Yulia Kochetovaʼs project "War is personal" previously won the World Press Photo 2024 award in the European region for documenting Russiaʼs war against Ukraine.