World Press Photo today announces the Photo of the Year and two finalists of the 2025 World Press Photo Contest, showcasing a selection of the world’s best photojournalism and documentary photography.

The Photo of the Year winner for 2025 is a photo by Doha based Palestinian photographer Samar Abu Elouf, taken for The New York Times, of a young boy – Mahmoud Ajjour – severely injured while fleeing an Israeli attack in Gaza.

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Mahmoud Ajjour, Aged Nine
© Samar Abu Elouf, for The New York Times

Samar Abu Elouf was evacuated from Gaza in December 2023. She now lives in the same apartment complex as Mahmoud in Doha, where she has documented the few badly wounded Gazans who, like Mahmoud, have made it out for treatment. Mahmoud 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 were evacuated to Qatar where, after medical treatment, Mahmoud is learning to play games on his phone, write, and open doors with his feet.
Mahmoud’s dream is simple: he wants to get prosthetics and live his life as any other child. The war in Gaza has taken a disproportionate toll on children and the United Nations estimates that by December 2024, Gaza had the highest number of child amputees per capita anywhere in the world.

Executive Director World Press Photo, Joumana El Zein Khoury said:
“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.

I remain endlessly grateful for the photographers who, despite the personal risks and emotional costs, record these stories to give all of us the opportunity to understand, empathise, and be inspired to action.

As we look ahead to the next 70 years, World Press Photo remains dedicated to supporting the photographers who risk everything to bring us the truth.”

At 17 April 2025 at 11:00am CEST (Amsterdam), the 2025 World Press Photo of the Year winner and two finalists, will be announced at the press opening of the Flagship World Press Photo Exhibition 2025 at De Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and online simultaneously to media across the globe. Every winning photographer is eligible for the Photo of the Year award.

Two finalists were selected as runners up alongside the Photo of the Year:

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Night Crossing
John Moore, United States, Getty Images

Chinese migrants warm themselves during a cold rain after crossing the US–Mexico border. This image, both otherworldly and intimate, depicts the complex realities of migration at the border, which is often flattened and politicised in public discourse in the United States.

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Droughts in the Amazon
Musuk Nolte, Peru/Mexico, Panos Pictures, Bertha Foundation

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 2 kilometers along a dry riverbed in the Amazon. The striking contrast of dry, desert-like scenes in the world’s largest rainforest makes the absence of water hauntingly visible.

The awarded stories will be shown to millions as part of the World Press Photo annual traveling exhibition in over 60 locations around the world. Millions more will see the winning stories online.

Global jury chair, Lucy Conticello, Director of Photography for M, Le Monde’s weekend magazine, said:
“When the global jury got down to selecting the different contenders for Photo of the Year we started with a wide selection from each of the six regions. Three topics emerged from that pool that define the 2025 World Press Photo edition: conflict, migration, and climate change. Another way of seeing them is as stories of resilience, family, and community.

The Photo of the Year is a portrait of a boy wearing a tank top; he’s facing a window and a warm light shines on him casting a soft shadow on one side of his face. His young age, and beautiful features, are really in contrast with his melancholy expression. You then realize with a shock that he is missing his arms.

This young boy’s life deserves to be understood, and this picture does what great photojournalism can do: provide a layered entry point into a complex story, and the incentive to prolong one’s encounter with that story. In my opinion, this image by Samar Abu Elouf was a clear winner from the start.”