The winners of the World Press photography contest; The chronicle of 2020 according to the image
The Winners Of The World Press Photo Foundation 2021 Competition Were Announced With The Participation Of 45 Photographers From 28 Countries.
This competition is held on current issues, the environment, general news, long-term projects, nature, portraits, and sports news.
The World Press Photo Foundation announced the finalists and winners of the 2021 competition with the participation of 45 photographers from 28 countries. All the selected works are awe-inspiring, But among these, several photos can be considered more deserving of the title of the best picture of the year of the world press.
The World Press Photo Contest seeks to recognize the best photojournalism of the past year, rewarding images and stories in eight categories.
World Press Photo is an independent and non-profit foundation in Amsterdam, Netherlands. This foundation, established in 1955, is known for holding the world’s most prestigious and largest annual photo news competition.
In 1955, Worldpress Photo was launched by 5 Dutch photographers to present selected news and documentary photos to photographers worldwide. This foundation has become one of the most important competitions and foundations in documentary and news photography.
This year, 4315 photographers from 130 countries participated in this competition with 74470 images. This competition was held in eight categories: current issues, environment, general news, long-term projects, nature, portraits, and sports news. The winners of this competition were announced on April 15.
The World Press Photo of the Year Award has a cash prize of five thousand euros, and the nominees of each category are published in the World Press Photo online collection and promoted on the World Press Photo operating system. They are also included in the annual World Press Photo Exhibition tour and featured in the World Press Photo Yearbook. In addition, nominees are invited to the World Press Photo Festival 2021.
In the end, first place in this section of the “World Press” competition in 2021 went to Canadian photographer “Chris Dunon” for a photo titled “Those who stay become heroes.”
Also, the “First Hug” photo won the first public news single photo and the title of the best picture of the year in the “World Press Photo” competition.
Due to the outbreak of the coronavirus, the judging of the World Press World Photo Contest was held entirely online and included seven expert juries and one general jury in several sessions over six weeks.
(Click on the images to see them in full size)
the first hug; Winner of the World Press Photo of the Year Award
- Photographer : Mads Nissen
- Country of the photographer: Denmark
- Newspaper: Politiken/Panos Pictures
This was the first hug that Rosa experienced after five months. In March, nursing homes across the country closed their doors to all visitors to prevent the spread of Covid-19 from threatening the lives of the elderly. In Brazil, millions of Brazilians were prevented from visiting their elderly relatives. Caregivers were instructed to minimize physical contact with vulnerable individuals.
A simple invention called the “hug curtain” allowed people to hug each other again. The novel coronavirus first appeared in late 2019 in Wuhan, China, and began to spread worldwide in January 2020. On March 11, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of Covid-19 a pandemic. This disease, transmitted mainly through close contact and respiratory droplets, can be fatal. People over seventy and the elderly are among the groups with a high risk of contracting Corona.
Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro dismissed claims about the severity of the coronavirus pandemic and the danger posed by the virus, neutralizing the quarantine measures adopted at the state level and encouraging Brazilians to continue working to preserve the economy. For this reason, Brazil passed the year 2020 with one of the worst records in the world in dealing with the coronavirus. According to official statistics, it experienced 7.7 million cases of Corona and 195 thousand of deaths.
Dr. Pew and Mr. Hassan; Second place in the current affairs section
- Photographer: Jeremy Lampin
- Country of the photographer: France
- Newspaper: Unknown
Marion, 24, who has metastatic cancer, hugs her seven-year-old son Ethan in front of Pio, a therapy horse, at the Selene palliative care unit at the Hospitalier de Calais in France on November 30, 2020. The owner of this care unit, Hassan Bouchakur, says: “With Pio, we try to recreate life when it’s over for some and create a chance to fight again; In this way, we can give energy to the families and caregivers of the patients.”
Animal-assisted therapy is used in many clinical settings, especially psychological treatment and palliative care. Animals seem to be able to reduce anxiety and stress and contribute to physical effects such as lowering blood pressure, improving heart rate, or helping with pain management. Treatment with the help of animals is considered one of the essential treatment methods, which has been common in many countries for many years, and its use and scientific burden in treatment is added every day. Treatment by animals (Animal-assisted Therapy) and in its more is treatment by pets and human companions or pet therapy.
Extensive research conducted by many researchers in different parts of the world shows that some of the people’s emotional problems and mental disorders can be treated by animals. In psychology and psychiatry, the phrase “pet therapy” has been used for many years and has its fans.
The unrest in Minneapolis after the death of George Floyd; Third place in the news section
- Photographer: John Minchillo
- Photographer’s country: America
- Newspaper: Associated Press
George Floyd was an African-American man who died while arrested by a white police officer named Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis. This white policeman pressed his knee on George Floyd’s neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds. After this incident, many essential movements, such as “Black Lives Matter,” were born to protest the violent behavior of the American police, especially in dealing with black people. These protests quickly spread across the United States and the world. In this image, protesters raise their fists outside a burning fast food restaurant near the station where arresting officers arrested George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Pantanal on fire; First place in the environment and stories section
- Photographer: Lalo de Almeida
- Country of the photographer: Brazil
- Newspaper: Folha de São Paulo
Pantanal is the name of a natural area that is the largest tropical wetland in the world. The Pantanal wetland covers an area of approximately 140,000 to 195,000 square kilometers. This wetland has various ecosystems with distinct hydrological, geological, and ecological characteristics. In this image, firefighters battle a spreading fire in the Pantanal, São Francisco do Perigara ranch, home to one of the largest populations of hyacinth macaws (Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus) in Brazil. About 92% of the farm area, mostly reserved for conservation, was destroyed by fire. Fires have destroyed approximately 4.5 million hectares of the Pantanal surface, and thirty percent of the biomass and about 22 times its area have been lost between 2000 and 2018.
Yemen, hunger and other war wounds; First place in the contemporary issues section
- Photographer: Pablo Tosco
- Country of the photographer: Argentina
- Newspaper: Unknown
Fatemeh and her son are preparing a fishing trip in a boat in Yemen’s Amira Gulf. Fatima has nine children. He earns a living by fishing to cover their expenses. His village was destroyed due to armed conflict in Yemen, But Fatima bought a boat with the money she earned from selling fish and resumed her life. The conflict between the Houthi rebels and the Saudi-led Arab coalition began in 2014 and has led to what UNICEF has called the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.
Pigeons during the pandemic; First place in nature and stories
- Photographer: Jasper Guest
- Photographer’s country: Netherlands
- Newspaper: Unknown
In this picture, Merle, the photographer’s daughter, sat on the balcony before entering the house because a pigeon came towards her and covered her face with fear. As he tried not to look at the pigeon, he suddenly saw it sitting on the balcony railing. “I hid my smile behind the camera and tried to calm him down by telling him that this pigeon won’t hurt you,” says Jasper Guest. My daughter told me she thought the pigeon was trying to attack her, But I know that the pigeons will always return to our place of residence, and I hope that my daughter will gradually communicate with them, not as much as I do, but well.”
Sea lion game with a mask; First rank in the environment department
- Photographer: Ralph Pace
- Photographer’s country: America
- Newspaper: Unknown
California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) are playful animals native to western North America. With the start of quarantine across California, natural beauty spots with abundant wildlife have become famous for local travel. A curious California sea lion swims toward a face mask at Breakwater Dive Site in Monterey, California.
Slave Freedom Monument; World Press Photo of the Year Award nominee
- Photographer: Evelyn Hockstein
- Country of photographer: United States of America
- Newspaper: Washington Post
The Emancipation Monument shows Lincoln holding the Emancipation Proclamation in one hand and placing the other over the head of a black man in a casket kneeling at his feet. Critics argue that the statue is paternalistic but derogatory in its depiction of black Americans and does not reflect the role blacks played in their freedom.
Those who are against the removal of this building believe that this is a positive image of the liberation of people from slavery and that the removal of such structures can mean erasing history. The effort to remove the statue comes amid a wave of calls to take down monuments to Confederate generals across the country.
An action that was mainly welcomed by the activists of the “Black Lives Matter” movement, they saw the Confederacy and other monuments as reminders of an oppressive history. They want a more honest accounting of American history. Authorities had erected barriers around the Freedom Monument before the demonstration. Residents posted notes on the fence and voiced their opinions.
On June 25, about a hundred people gathered at the monument and discussed its meaning. In February 2021, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton reintroduced a bill in the United States Congress to remove the statue and move it to a museum.
Following these events, the Emancipation Memorial statue was removed from America’s oldest public park. This statue, also known as the Slave Emancipation Group or the Freedman’s Memorial, was installed in Boston Common Park in 1879.
Some people saw this statue as a symbol of a black man who got rid of the chains tied to his hand and got up. Still, on the other side of the story, people, especially black people, believed that this statue was made as if this man was kneeling before Abraham Lincoln, his white savior.
Save the giraffe from the flood in western Kenya; First place in the nature section.
- Photographer: Amy Vitale
- Photographer’s country: America
- Newspaper: CNN news agency
A giraffe is being moved from a flooded island in western Kenya to a protected location. Rothschild’s giraffes are a subspecies of the northern giraffe and are considered endangered. Longchamp Island was once a peninsula. Over the past ten years, the increase in Lake Baringo has caused the arm to disappear and form an island. Also, hefty rainfall in 2019 caused further flooding and trapped nine giraffes.
Of course, these 9 Rothschild giraffes, who were in danger of drowning, were finally rescued by an environmental association in the form of a several-month project and transferred to a safer shore. These giraffes also lived on Lunigaro Island in Lake Baringo. The rising water level around the lake and the land that was about to go underwater threatened the survival of these animals.
leaving home in mountainous Karabagh; World Press Photo of the Year Award nominee
- Photographer: Valery Melnikov
- Country of the photographer: Russia
- Newspaper: Sputnik
The conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the disputed region of Karabagh resumed in September 2020 after a 30-year hiatus. The war intensified after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 and continued until a ceasefire in 1994. When the Soviet Union collapsed in the late 1080s, ethnic Armenians took advantage of the power vacuum and voted for Nagorno-Karabakh, part of Azerbaijan, to join Armenia.
In the war over the possession of this piece of land, more than twenty thousand people lost their lives, and one million people were forced to leave their homes. The victorious Armenians declared an independent country and drove about eight hundred thousand Azerbaijanis into exile. Over the past 30 years, little work has been done to resolve the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, and there have been periodic military conflicts between the two sides.
The border conflict in July 2020 caused widespread protests in the capital of Azerbaijan, Baku, with thousands of demonstrators calling for a war between the country and Armenia. Renewed clashes, which each side blames as the leading cause, began on September 27 in the famous Karabakh war. Clashes continued until November 9, and the worst conflicts since 1990 were seen in the region.
In a Russian-brokered settlement, Azerbaijan regained possession of territories lost in the 1990s; But the region’s capital, Stepanakert, came under Armenian control. Although the war is over, reconciliation will be difficult for Armenians who feel they have lost their homeland and Azerbaijanis who have returned to war-torn areas.
Combating locust attack in East Africa; World Press Photo of the Year Award nominee
- Photographer: Louis Tatu
- Country of the photographer: Spain
- Newspaper: Washington Post
In early 2020, Kenya experienced its worst locust infestation in seventy years. Many locusts migrated from the Arabian Peninsula to Ethiopia and Somalia in the summer of 2019. Continued breeding success combined with heavy fall rains and a rare late-season storm in December 2019 triggered another reproductive spasm.
Locusts entered Kenya and other East African countries in search of food and invaded new areas. Desert locusts are potentially the most destructive locust pests; Because swarms of these locusts can fly long distances at speed and move up to 150 kilometers per day. These locusts can have between 40 and 80 million per square kilometer.
Each grasshopper can eat its weight in plants every day. A swarm of locusts the size of Paris can eat the same amount of food in one day as half the population of France. Grasshoppers will last two to five generations per year, depending on environmental conditions. In dry places, they accumulate in the remaining pieces of land. Prolonged wet weather, producing moist soil for spawning and abundant food, encourages the breeding and production of large herds that travel in search of food and desolate farmland.
Even before this outbreak, nearly 20 million people were facing high levels of food insecurity across the East African region, exposed to periodic droughts and floods. Covid-19 restrictions in the area have slowed efforts to combat the locust infestation as supply chains for pesticides have been disrupted. Locusts are reproducing so fast that their population is expected to increase 400 times by June this year.
The secret gun room in Las Vegas; First place in portraits
- Photographer: Gabriel Galimberti
- Photographer’s country: America
- Newspaper: Unknown
In this picture, Robert Baldwin Jr. stands in his secret gun room behind a one-way mirror in his home in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. His wife Tori is behind the table working on her laptop. At age six, Robert received his first gun, a 22-caliber rifle, from his father. “I like to give myself a gun to mark important moments like Christmas or my birthday,” he says. It is a family tradition. When he was six years old, after his father gave him a caliber rifle, he also taught him how to use it. “He shot for fun,” Robert says of his father. He was a hunter and wanted to accompany me to establish a special bond with him, and he succeeded.”
Injured man after Beirut port explosion; World Press Photo of the Year Award nominee
- Photographer: Lorenzo Tognoli
- Country of the photographer: Italy
- Newspaper: Washington Post
Around six o’clock in the evening on August 4, an enormous explosion caused by more than 2,750 tons of high-density ammonium nitrate rocked Beirut, the capital of Lebanon. This explosive material was stored and kept in a warehouse in the port. This explosion, which occurred with a magnitude of 3.3 on the Richter scale, damaged or destroyed about 6,000 buildings, killed at least 190 people, injured 6,000, and displaced about 300,000 people. About one hundred thousand people lived within one kilometer of Anbar.
The ammonium nitrate came from a ship impounded in 2012 for non-payment of loading and other charges and was abandoned by its owner. Customs officials wrote to Lebanese courts at least six times from 2014 to 2017, asking them what to do with this amount of explosives; materials were kept in the warehouse in lousy weather.
It is not clear what caused the explosion, But contamination of these materials with other materials during transportation or storage is most likely the cause. Many citizens consider this incident a sign of the country’s current problems; It means government failure, misbehavior, and corruption. In the days following the blast, tens of thousands of demonstrators filled the streets of central Beirut. Some of them clashed with security forces and took over government buildings. These actions were in protest against a political system that, according to the Lebanese people, has no desire to solve the country’s problems.
Sakhawood; First rank in the daily issues section
- Photographer: Alexey Vasiliev
- Country of the photographer: Russia
- Newspaper: Unknown
