Palestinian Photojournalist Wins World Press Photo of the Year 2025

Apr 17, 2025

Matt Growcoot

A boy with amputated arms sits in shadow on the left; on the right, a journalist in a helmet and vest stands amid rubble and destroyed cars in a war-torn urban area. — The winning photo, left, taken by Samar Abu Elouf, right.

The World Press Photo Awards has announced its overall winner and Samar Abu Elouf, a Palestinian photojournalist, has won Photo of the Year for her portraits of a young boy named Mahmoud Ajjour who was severely injured while fleeing an Israeli attack in Gaza.

The haunting image of Ajjour was taken by Elouf while she was on assignment for The New York Times. The portrait was done in Doha, Qatar, where Ajjour was evacuated from Gaza and where Elouf lives as well.

Ajjour was severely injured while fleeing an Israeli attack in Gaza City in March 2024. After he turned back to urge his family onward, an explosion severed one of his arms and mutilated the other. The family was evacuated to Qatar where, after medical treatment, Mahmoud is learning to play games on his phone, write, and open doors with his feet. Ajjour now wants prosthetics and to live his life the same as most children.

A boy with short curly hair and no arms sits against a beige wall, wearing a white tank top, looking thoughtfully into the distance as sunlight partially illuminates his face and chest. — Nine-year-old Mahmoud Ajjour in Doha. | © Samar Abu Elouf, for The New York Times

“This is a quiet photo that speaks loudly. It tells the story of one boy, but also of a wider war that will have an impact for generations. Looking at our archive, in the 70th year of World Press Photo, I am confronted by too many images like this one,” says Executive Director of World Press Photo Joumana El Zein Khoury.

Two photos were chosen as runner-ups alongside Photo of the Year. They are Night Crossing by John Moore, which shows Chinese migrants attempting to stay warm after they cross the US-Mexico border.

A group of people wearing translucent rain ponchos huddle together at night on a rocky terrain, illuminated by a warm light against dark, mountainous surroundings. Some people appear to be comforting each other. — Chinese migrants warm themselves during a cold rain after crossing the US–Mexico border. Campo, California, 7 March 2024. Unauthorized immigration from China to the US has increased dramatically in recent years due to a host of factors, including China’s struggling economy and financial losses after strict zero-COVID policies. Moreover, people are being influenced by video tutorials on how to get across the border, shown on Chinese social media platforms. | © John Moore, Getty Images.

The other runner-up depicts droughts in the Amazon and shows a young man bringing food to his mother who lives in the village of Manacapuru. Taken by Musuk Nolte, the village was once accessible by boat but drought means the man must now walk two kilometers (over a mile) along a dry riverbed.

A shirtless man wearing a straw hat and white shorts stands barefoot on a vast sandy plain, holding two bags, one in each hand, and looks toward the distant horizon under a clear sky. — A young man brings food to his mother who lives in the village of Manacapuru. The village was once accessible by boat, but because of the drought, he must walk two kilometers along the dry riverbed of the Solimões River to reach her. Amazonas, Brazil. The Amazon River is experiencing record low water levels due to severe drought intensified by climate change. This ecological crisis threatens biodiversity, disrupts ecosystems, and impacts local communities reliant on rivers for survival. As droughts intensify, many settlers face the difficult choice of abandoning their land and livelihoods for urban areas, changing the social fabric of this region permanently. This project makes the effects of climate change, which can so often be abstract or difficult to represent, appear as a tangible and concrete reality shaping the futures of vulnerable communities closely connected with the natural world. | © Musuk Nolte, Panos Pictures, Bertha Foundation

Regional winners were announced last month. A total of 42 winners were selected from Africa, Asia-Pacific and Oceania, Europe, North and Central America, South America, and West, Central, and South Asia. To see those winners, check out PetaPixel’s article.

The World Press Photo Exhibition 2025 will take place at the MPB Gallery in London from May 23 to August 25. Tickets can be bought here.

Earlier this week, PetaPixel reported that one of the regional winners, Russian photographer Mikhail Tereschenko, is no longer invited to the World Press Photo awards ceremony in Amsterdam. World Press Photo put out a statement saying “we are no longer able to facilitate a guest from a state-controlled Russian organisation.”