World Press Photo Contest: Winners of 2020

The winners of the 63rd annual photo contest was announced on 16th April 2020. World Press Photo Foundation has been organising this competition since 1955, and each time the judges stood in awe by the number of photographers and the talent they displayed.

This time 73,996 photos were sent in by 4,282 photographers from 125 different countries. There were four highlights of the event, which were the titles of ‘World Press Photo of the Year’, ‘World Press Photo Story of the Year’, ‘World Press Photo Interactive of the Year’, and ‘World Press Photo Online Video of the Year’. The winners of the following 8 categories were announced as well: Contemporary Issues, Environment, Nature, Portraits, Sports, Long-Term Projects, General News, and Spot News.

World Press Photo of the Year – The award went to ‘Straight Voice’ by Yasuyoshi Chiba from Japan. He studied photography at Musashino Art University in Tokyo, and then worked as a staff photographer for Asahi Shimbun. He became a freelance photographer and moved to Kenya in 2007, and then joined Agence France-Presse (AFP) in Brazil as the Chief Photographer for East Africa and Indian Ocean in 2011. Yasuyoshi Chiba is currently based in Nairobi, Kenya.

The photo was taken during the protests in eastern city of Atbara in Sudan. Yasuyoshi said that he saw people illuminating a young man who was reciting a famous protest poem, and every time he stopped to take a breath, everyone yelled ‘thawra!’ which means revolution in Arabic.

World Press Photo Story of the Year – It was awarded to ‘Kho, the Genesis of a Revolt’ captured by Romain Laurendeau from France. He worked on long term projects as a professional photographer in places such as France, Senegal, Algeria, Israel and some the Palestinian territories. Then in 2009, he decided to travel to document the human condition in all of its social, economic and political aspects.

The series depicts the story of the youth inspiring everyone to join them and challenge authority, leading to the largest movement in Algeria in decades. It was shot over 5 years, and Romain says that the young generation were tired of their poor situation and just wanted to live like everyone else in the world.

World Press Photo Interactive of the Year – The award winner was ‘Battleground PolyU’ by DJ Clark at China Daily. He is the Multimedia Director at China Daily Asia Pacific, host and producer of the show Drone & Phone, and the course leader in Visual Journalism at the University of Bolton MA. He has worked with media organizations across the world as a video producer, photojournalist, presenter, writer, trainer and multimedia consultant for more than 30 years.

The content was shot during the protests in Hong Kong in 2019, and students were trapped in university campuses such as Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU). DJ Clark was capturing the protests for 6 months until he started ‘Battleground PolyU’, through which he wanted the audience to acknowledge what everyone was experiencing at such a defining moment in the history of Hong Kong democracy.

World Press Photo Online Video of the Year – The award was given to ‘Scenes from a Dry City’ by Francois Verster and Simon Wood. The former is a South African documentary filmmaker who follows creative and observational approaches to social issues, and the latter is a filmmaker based in Cape Town, South Africa.

The video was regarding the social inequality due to the water crisis in Cape Town, South Africa, since 2017. It shows the impacts of the climate change on the environment as well as the people there. Francois says that when they heard that at some point, they won’t get any water, it deeply shocked them, and Simon says that it gave them the idea to create a content for people to watch what it’d be like to live in a world with no access to water.