Brent Stirton, “Akashinga – the Brave Ones” (2018): Petronella Chigumbura (30), a member of an all-female anti-poaching unit called Akashinga, participates in stealth and concealment training in the Phundundu Wildlife Park, Zimbabwe (© Brent Stirton, Getty Images, all images courtesy World Press Photo Contest)
This year’s 2019 World Press Photo Contest nominees have been announced, with a number of professional photographers being recognized for their visual journalism over the past year. The World Press Photo Contest, which began in 1955 and is now in its 62nd edition, uses an independent jury to oversee photographic works from six global regions across a multitude of backgrounds.
Finbarr O’Reilly, “Dakar Fashion” (2018): Diarra Ndiaye, Ndeye Fatou Mbaye, and Mariza Sakho model outfits by designer Adama Paris, in the Medina neighborhood of the Senegalese capital, Dakar, as curious residents look on (© Finbarr O’Reilly)
This year, 78,801 images by 4,738 photographers from 129 countries entered the contest, and the jury has selected 43 nominees in eight categories, with six nominees for World Press Photo of the Year and three nominees for their new award, World Press Photo Story of the Year. The World Press Photo Story of the Year “honors the photographer whose visual creativity and skills produced a story with excellent editing and sequencing that captures or represents an event or issue of great journalistic importance in 2018,” according to the organization.
Ingo Arndt, “Wild Pumas of Patagonia” (2018): Year-old puma cubs feed from the carcass of an adult guanaco, killed the night before (© Ingo Arndt, for National Geographic)
“The Story of the Year allowed us to have more nuanced photography that had more breathing room and space to be a little bit more thoughtful and careful in the way we tell stories,” said Paul Moakley, deputy director of Photography and Visual Enterprise at Time Magazine, United States and 2019 Photo Contest jury member.
John Moore, “Crying Girl on the Border” (2018): Honduran toddler Yanela Sanchez cries as she and her mother, Sandra Sanchez, are taken into custody by US border officials in McAllen, Texas, USA, on June 12 (© John Moore, Getty Images)
“[The World Press Photo Story of the Year] had to hold together visually, it had to be very cohesive, the editing of the story itself had to be quite strong, and the storytelling had to be there, there had to be different elements of the scenario,” said Whitney Johnson, vice president of Visuals and Immersive Experiences at National Geographic, and 2019 Photo Contest jury chair.
Winners will be announced on April 11, during an award show in Amsterdam. Following the contest, the nominees’ works will go on tour in an exhibition that reaches 100 locations, beginning in Amsterdam on April 14, 2019.
Luisa Dörr, “Falleras” (2018): As fallera gowns are so expensive, Maria Fernandez bought a second-hand one and customized it (© Luisa Dörr)
Mohammed Badra, “Victims of an Alleged Gas Attack Receive Treatment in Eastern Ghouta” (2018): A man and a child receive treatment after the suspected gas attack on al-Shifunieh, February 25, 2018 (© Mohammed Badra, European Pressphoto Agency)
Cataline Martin-Chico, “Colombia, (Re)Birth” (2018): Yorladis is pregnant for the sixth time, after five other pregnancies were terminated during her FARC years. She says she managed to hide the fifth pregnancy from her commander until the sixth month by wearing loose clothes (© Catalina Martin-Chico, Panos)
Diana Markosian, “The Cubanitas” (2018): Pura rides around her neighborhood in a pink 1950s convertible, as the community gathers to celebrate her 15th birthday, in Havana, Cuba (© Diana Markosian, Magnum Photos)
John Wessels, “A Fight for Democracy” (2018): A supporter of Martin Fayulu, leader of an opposition party, runs from police tear gas in Kinshasa, on December 19, 2018 (© John Wessels, Agence France-Presse)
Mary F. Calvert, “Male Rape” (2018): Former US marine Ethan Hanson bathes at home in Austin, Minnesota, USA, after a sexual trauma experienced during his military service left him unable to take showers (© Mary F. Calvert)
Philip Montgomery, “Faces of an Epidemic” (2018): A man overdosing on heroin collapses after first-responders administer Narcan, which blocks effects of opioids, Dayton, Ohio (© Philip Montgomery, for The New Yorker)
Nadia Shira Cohen “God’s Honey” (2018): Ana Ham cleans a pig’s head, while men of the family attend to the carcass (© Nadia Shira Cohen)
John Wessels, “A Fight for Democracy” (2018): UDPS supporters gather outside party headquarters, on December 21, 2018. A fire that destroyed polling equipment had led to another postponement of the election, initially scheduled for December 23 (© John Wessels, Agence France-Presse)
John Wessels, “A Fight for Democracy” (2018): President Kabila sits in the garden of his ranch in Kinshasa, on December 10, 2018 (© John Wessels, Agence France-Presse)
Sarah Blesener, “Beckon Us From Home” (2018): Students laugh backstage before a singing and marching competition, at School #6 gymnasium, Dmitrov, Russia (© Sarah Blesener)
Sarah Blesener, “Beckon Us From Home” (2018): Students undergo firearms training using airguns at Borodino, the battleground where Russia fought Napoleon’s forces in 1812 (© Sarah Blesener)
Alejandro Cegarra, “State of Decay” (2017): Demonstrators with homemade shields at an anti-Maduro protest, Caracas, July 7, 2017 (© Alejandro Cegarra)
Bénédicte Kurzen, Noor and Sanne de Wilde, Noor, “Land of Ibeji” (2018): Dressed for church, Kehinde Deborah and Taiwo Celestine (10) stand on a hill near Igbo-Ora, Nigeria (© Bénédicte Kurzen, Noor and Sanne de Wilde, Noor)
Brent Stirton, “Falcons and the Arab Influence” (2018): Falcons are tied to a perch at a camp near Abu Dhabi, UAE (© Brent Stirton, Getty Images for National Geographic)
Mohammed Badra, “Syria, No Exit” (2018): Children receive treatment after the suspected chlorine attack on the village of al-Shifunieh, February 25, 2018 (© Mohammed Badra, European Pressphoto Agency)
I would have loved if ANY of the pictures was about something nice, or happy or less sad. It looks like only terrible situations are worth to show.
I saw several pictures that were full of happiness. The 15th birthday party, the FARC soldier finally able to have a baby, the laughing Russian students, traditional farm culture still alive in the US, and even the well-fed puma cubs of Patagonia. The joys of life go on despite a world full of tragedies.