World Press Photo announces 2025 winners: See striking images

The winners of the 2025 World Press Photo Contest have been announced, and the winning selection showcases some of the world’s best photojournalism and documentary photography.

Forty-two winners, nine more than last year's total of 33, were chosen from more than 59,000 entries received from 3,778 photographers from across 141 countries, World Press Photo said in a news release.

Winners from the regions of Africa; Asia Pacific and Oceania; Europe; North and Central America; South America; and West, Central and South Asia were awarded across three categories: "Singles" (single frame photographs), "Stories" (between 4 and 10 single frame photographs), and "Long-term Projects" (between 4 and 10 single frame photographs). The singles and stories categories had three winners apiece, and one winner was named in the long-term project category.

Selection was first done by six regional juries, and the final winners were then chosen by an independent global jury consisting of the regional jury chairs plus the global jury chair, the organization said.

"Gathered from across 2024’s fast changing political and media landscape, the photos invite viewers to step outside the news cycle and look more deeply at both prominent and less seen stories from across the world as well as look again at familiar events," the organization said. "These works show the power of authentic photojournalism and documentary photography - offering space for reflection in times of urgency through visual excellence and dedication to accuracy."

Key themes from this year's winning selection range from politics, gender and migration, to conflict and the climate crisis.

Images 'cut through the noise'

World Press Photo, now in its 70th year, said it is increasing the total number of winners from a total of 33 in 2024 to 42 this year. In the past three years, there has been one winning single and one winning story per region. However, from this year onwards, there will be three winners in each of these categories per region.

"The world is not the same as it was in 1955 when World Press Photo was founded," Executive Director World Press Photo, Joumana El Zein Khoury said in a statement. "We live in a time when it is easier than ever to look away, to scroll past, to disengage. But these images do not let us do that."

Khoury added the winning images "cut through the noise, forcing us to acknowledge what is unfolding, even when it is uncomfortable, even when it makes us question the world we live in - and our own role within it."

The winning photographs and the stories behind them will be showcased in an exhibition that will travel across 60 locations around the world over this year, including London, Rome, Berlin, Mexico City, Montreal and Jakarta with "millions more" seeing the "winning stories online," the organization said.

Photo of the Year winner coming in April

World Press Photo, on April 17, will also announce the 2025 World Press Photo of the Year winner and two finalists at the press opening of the Flagship World Press Photo Exhibition 2025 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. All winning photographers are eligible for the Photo of the Year award.

Global jury chair Lucy Conticello said jury members "were looking for pictures that people can start conversations around."

"We made our choices with an eye on the final mix," Conticello said. "As much as the World Press Photo Contest award is an immense recognition for photographers, often working under difficult circumstances, it is also a recap of the world's major events, however incomplete."

Founded in the Netherlands in 1955, World Press Photo is a nonprofit organization that "champions the power of photojournalism and documentary photography to deepen understanding, promote dialog, and inspire action."

See some of 2025 World Press Photo Contest's winning photographs

Warning: Some images may be too graphic for readers. Viewer discretion advised.

Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for Paste BN. Reach her at sshafiq@gannett.com and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7.