The winners of the prestigious photography competition “World Press Photo” became known Culture

This year, 61,062 photos were submitted to the competition, taken by 3,851 photographers from 130 countries.

Mohammed Salem/2024 World Press Photo Contest photo/”Palestinian woman hugs her niece’s body”

The photo of the Palestinian photographer Mohammed Salem was chosen by viewers as the work of “Photography of the Year”. It depicts Ina Abu Maamar holding the body of his niece Sali, who was killed by an Israeli rocket in their home in the Gaza Strip.

The photographer took this photo a few days after his own wife gave birth to a baby. He described the moment as “a powerful and sad moment that sums up what happened in the Gaza Strip.” After the Israeli attack, he found Ina Nasser crouching on the ground in the morgue of the hospital, hugging the body of her dead niece.

It is believed that more than 30,000 people have already died in the Gaza Strip during the war lasting more than half a year. Palestinians. According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, two-thirds of the dead are women and children.

Photo by Lee-Ann Olwage/2024 World Press Photo Contest/Dada Paul and his granddaughter Odliatemix prepare for church in Antananarivo, Madagascar

South African photographer Lee-Ann Olwage’s work on the issue of dementia was recognized as the best cycle in the “Reportage of the Year” category. As life expectancy increases, dementia is becoming a worldwide problem. According to the World Health Organization, about 55 million people suffer from dementia in the world today. people, of which more than 60 percent live in low- and middle-income countries.

The photographer downplayed the story of 91-year-old Madagascar resident Paula Rakotozandry, who has been suffering from dementia for eleven years, but his family did not know anything about this disease for nine years.

Alejandro Cegarra/2024 World Press Photo Contest photo/”Between Two Walls”

In the “Long-term projects” category, the work series “Between Two Walls” by Venezuelan photographer Alejandro Cegarra won. It analyzes the dramatic changes in Mexico’s immigration policy over the past few years and its effects on people’s lives.

It is said that from 2019 Mexico’s immigration policy along its southern border with Venezuela has changed quite radically, and the country itself has gone from being open to migrants and asylum seekers to being extremely strict. This was influenced by both the pandemic and the migrant crisis on the US-Mexico border, as well as political and economic instability throughout Central and South America.

Julia Kochetova/2024 World Press Photo Contest photo/”War is personal”

Ukrainian photographer Yulia Kochetova also became the winner of World Press Photo. Her work was recognized as the best in the “Open Format” category, where photos are often supplemented with text, audio or video clips.

According to representatives of World Press Photo, J. Kochetova’s cycle is a kind of interdisciplinary war diary, showing that war is also a very personal experience.

All the works of the winners of the regional stage of “World Press Photo’ 2024” can be seen on the official page of the competition.

This competition was held for the first time in 1955. Among the winners are the works of Lithuanian photographers Antanas Ališauskas (1969), Irena Giedraitienė (1975), Valerijaus Koreškovs (1978) and Tad Kazakevičius (2020).

As two years ago, in the fall of this year, 15min group plans to bring an exhibition of the best works of “World Press Photo’ 2024” to Lithuania.