World Press Photo recently published its 2025 winners – and it got them under scrutiny. They have issued an apology for pairing two award-winning images taken by different photographers as a thematic set. One photo depicted a six-year-old Ukrainian child experiencing panic attacks after Russian artillery shelling, while the other showed an injured pro-Russian militant.
The issue arose because the World Press Photo website described the two images as paired due to the geographical location where they were taken. However, there was no context, so the public saw the problem with putting together an image of a Russian soldier and a child suffering war consequences.
“The global jury and World Press Photo apologise for describing these two works, Underground Field Hospital by Nanna Heitmann and Beyond the Trenches by Florian Bachmeier, as paired” World Press Photo says in a statement. “There is an obvious difference between a child suffering from the effects of war, and the suffering of a soldier from the invading forces, which are causing this suffering.”
The statement cites the United Nations, which states that, as of 21 February 2025, “more than 12,654 civilian men, women, girls, and boys have been killed, and over 29,392 injured” since Russian invasion of Ukraine. “Eighty-four percent of these casualties were in Ukraine controlled territory. Ukrainian energy infrastructure, medical facilities, homes, and school buildings have also been attacked,” the statement reads. “This is important context when viewing both of these photos that we should have emphasized.”
Global jury chair, Lucy Conticello, said:
“We should not have presented these two photos as a pair as it suggests they should be viewed and understood only in dialogue with one another. Doing so creates an overly simplified and false equivalency, and sidelines the story that each one of them deploys on its own. Those stories; meanwhile, only point to two aspects of the ongoing Russian war on Ukraine.”
After the backlash and the public apology, World Press Photo has also edited the official jury report. However, this isn’t the only issue they addressed.
Mikhail Tereshchenko’s Coverage of Protests in Georgia
The organization also faced criticism for awarding Russian photographer Mikhail Tereshchenko for his coverage of protests in Georgia. World Press Photo acknowledged the sensitive context, noting Georgia’s own history of Russian invasion in 2008 and ongoing political pressure. They highlighted the Georgian government’s adoption of Russian-style laws restricting civil society, and the police’s violent suppression of protests challenging the pro-Russian ruling party’s re-election. “According to Reporters Without Borders, police have attacked journalists covering these protests ‘with shocking impunity,’” the statement emphasized.
“In this context, many Georgian photographers are angry that a Russian photographer working for a Russian state controlled news agency, which is credibly criticized as lacking independence, has been awarded for covering these protests,” the statement reads.
“We will look to improve our rules and procedures for dealing with entries from photographers working for state controlled agencies. In doing so, we will consult photographers working in places like Georgia and Ukraine, as well as photographers working in places with repressive regimes who are often trying to do good work in their own difficult situations.”
World Press Photo also disagreed with Mikhail Tereshchenko’s use of “liberation of Mariupol.” They clarified that Russia’s invasion devastated the city, including attacks on civilian targets, and that Mariupol remains under Russian occupation. Though Russia disputes this, World Press Photo stands by these facts.
The Complexities of Photojournalism
World Press Photo says that this isn’t the first time this kind of issue has emerged. “From the Vietnam war to Iraq and Afghanistan, China to Iran, and many other countries – how can photographers tell authentic stories despite the restrictions put on them?” the statement reads “How much information should juries have about who made these stories, compared to judging each entry blindly on the observable quality of the work?”
“We cannot say we have the perfect answers to these questions. According to the rules of the 2025 World Press Photo Contest, both the global and regional jury judged all entries anonymously, without knowing the identity of the photographer or their employer.”
However, these are only some of the complexities of this contest and the work of photojournalists in general. How much context and explanation is too much, how much is too little, and how much is enough? Where does storytelling through imagery stop and verbal narration take the spotlight? And when does this narration turn into (over)explaining yourself?
On Critical Thinking and Making Mistakes
Sadly, there have always been wars and all sorts of crises. Still, the world is changing, and so is our collective consciousness and perception of things. Collectively, we may require a bit more context and explanation. But on the other hand, what happened to common sense and critical thinking?
In my opinion, common sense tells me that both a little girl and a soldier suffer, each in their own way, but both with the same cause. And I guess that the two images can be seen as a pair due to the same root of their suffering. I personally believe that there are no winners in a war. Everyone suffers, especially ordinary people like you and me. And I’m saying this as a person who’s been through two of them. So, I can see the logic behind the World Press Photo’s original decision.
Still, the World Press jury consists of humans, and humans err. Apparently, the public eye saw their decision as a mistake, and it was a good call to apologize and to adapt the Jury Report. “We will work to improve our rules and procedures, but must always apply them fairly and without exception,” Executive Director World Press Photo, Joumana El Zein Khoury said.
“Our contest has a global reach and its rules need to be applicable to very different contexts. Any change of rule to reflect one specific context will also have implications for very different ones. Therefore changes to the rules need to be done with a lot of care, research and consultation.”
[via PetaPixel; image credits: Nanna Heitmann | Florian Bachmeier/World Press Photo]
