Sometimes, a single image says more than a thousand headlines. The 2025 World Press Photo of the Year is one such image — a haunting portrait of nine-year-old Mahmoud Ajjour, captured by Palestinian photojournalist Samar Abu Elouf for The New York Times. This quiet, soul-stirring photograph speaks volumes about the toll of war on children, the resilience of the human spirit, and the power of photojournalism to force us to feel.
Selected from entries across six global regions, this year’s winner was announced at the Flagship World Press Photo Exhibition in Amsterdam’s De Nieuwe Kerk and unveiled simultaneously online on 17 April 2025.
A portrait of survival: Mahmoud Ajjour in Doha
The winning image features Mahmoud Ajjour, who was severely injured in March 2024 while fleeing an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City. In a moment of courage, Mahmoud turned back to encourage his family to keep moving — and an explosion severed one of his arms and mutilated the other.
Now living in Doha after being medically evacuated, Mahmoud shares an apartment complex with photographer Samar Abu Elouf, herself a refugee from Gaza. Through her lens, we see not just his injuries, but his strength, spirit, and desire to live like any other child. He is learning to write, play games, and even open doors with his feet. His wish? To get prosthetics and reclaim a sense of normality.
In the words of Joumana El Zein Khoury, Executive Director of World Press Photo:
“This is a quiet photo that speaks loudly. It tells the story of one boy, but also of a wider war.”
Finalists that echo a world in flux
Alongside Abu Elouf’s winning portrait, two powerful finalist images were also honoured, each addressing a pressing global crisis:
Night Crossing
📸 John Moore, United States, Getty Images
A haunting depiction of Chinese migrants warming themselves in the cold rain after crossing the US–Mexico border. It’s a poetic yet raw look at migration, stripped of politics and infused with humanity.
Droughts in the Amazon
📸 Musuk Nolte, Peru/Mexico, Panos Pictures, Bertha Foundation
A surreal, heartbreaking image showing a young man walking through a dried-out Amazon riverbed, bringing food to his mother in the now-isolated village of Manacapuru. It’s a haunting visual metaphor for climate breakdown in the world’s largest rainforest.
These images — along with the winning photo — embody the 2025 World Press Photo themes: conflict, migration, and climate change, or, as global jury chair Lucy Conticello described them, “stories of resilience, family, and community.”
Photography as protest — and healing
Photographer Samar Abu Elouf risked everything to document Gaza from the inside. She was evacuated in December 2023, and since then, has continued to tell stories of those displaced, wounded, and overlooked. Her photograph is more than a still frame — it’s a protest, a prayer, and a portrait of dignity.
As Conticello described it:
“This young boy’s life deserves to be understood… this picture provides a layered entry point into a complex story.”
And that’s the magic of great photojournalism — it doesn’t shout, it lingers. It asks you to stop scrolling, start feeling, and maybe even do something.
Seen around the world
The World Press Photo 2025 winners will be shown globally through a travelling exhibition that visits over 60 cities, reaching millions of visitors in person and millions more online. Whether you see them in an art space in Shoreditch, a museum in Tokyo, or a repurposed train station in Berlin, the images are designed to cut through the noise and demand reflection.
This year marks 70 years of the World Press Photo Foundation, and its mission has never felt more urgent: supporting photographers who risk everything to bring the truth to light.
