
© John Moore/Getty Images
62nd year in a row, The World Press Photo Foundation has run the renowned World Press Photo of the Year contest. The finalists of the 2019 contest have just been announced, and these are powerful images that tell stories from all over the world.
The 2019 World Press Photo Contest nominees are 43 photographers from 25 countries, whose works have been selected among nearly 80,000 entries from around the globe. Along with the nominees of the 62nd annual Photo Contest, the nominees of the 9th Digital Storytelling Contest have also been announced.
Photographers have been nominated in Photo Contest in eight categories:
- Contemporary issues
- Environment
- General news
- Long term projects
- Nature
- Portraits
- Sports
- Spot news
Additionally, there are also nominees for the two major awards:
- Six nominees for the World Press Photo of the Year
- Three nominees for the World Press Photo Story of the Year, which is a major new award
Below you can see some of the nominated images and the stories behind them. Perhaps you’ll even find some of them familiar, such as John Moore’s photo of a crying child at the border between the U.S. and Mexico. If you’d like to learn more and view the entire collection, visit the World Press Photo website. Keep in mind that some photos contain graphic content, so viewer discretion is advised.
World Press Photo of the Year nominees

© Mohammed Badra/European Press Photo Agency

© Marco Gualazzini/Contrasto
An orphaned boy walks past a wall with drawings depicting rocket-propelled grenade launchers, in Bol, Chad.

© Catalina Martin-Chico/Panos
Yorladis is pregnant for the sixth time, after five other pregnancies were terminated during her FARC years. She says she managed to hide the fifth pregnancy from her commander until the sixth month by wearing loose clothes.

© Chris McGrath/Getty Images (also nominated in the General News category)
An unidentified man tries to hold back the press on 15 October, as Saudi investigators arrive at the Saudi Arabian Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, amid a growing international backlash to the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

© John Moore/Getty Images (also nominated in the Spot News category)
Yana, from Honduras, cries as her mother Sandra Sanchez is searched by a US Border Patrol agent, in McAllen, Texas, USA, on 12 June.

© Brent Stirton/Getty Images (also nominated in the Environment category)
Petronella Chigumbura (30), a member of an all-female anti-poaching unit called Akashinga, participates in stealth and concealment training in the Phundundu Wildlife Park, Zimbabwe.
Category nominees (single images)
Contemporary issues

© Enayat Asadi
An Afghan refugee comforts his companion while waiting for transport across the eastern border of Iran, on 27 July.

© Mary F. Calvert
Former US marine Ethan Hanson bathes at home in Austin, Minnesota, USA, after a sexual trauma experienced during his military service left him unable to take showers.

© Diana Markosian/Magnum Photos
Pura rides around her neighborhood in a pink 1950s convertible, as the community gathers to celebrate her fifteenth birthday, in Havana, Cuba.
Environment

© Mário Cruz
A child who collects recyclable material lies on a mattress surrounded by garbage floating on the Pasig River, in Manila, Philippines.

© Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times
Evacuated horses stand tied to a pole, as smoke from a wildfire billows above them, on Zuma Beach, in Malibu, California, USA, on 10 November.
General news

© Brendan Smialowski/Agence France-Presse
US President Donald Trump leads France’s President Emmanuel Macron by the hand while walking to the Oval Office of the White House, in Washington DC, on 24 April 2018.

© Daniele Volpe
The living-room of an abandoned home in San Miguel Los Lotes, Guatemala, lies covered in ash after the eruption of Volcán de Fuego on 3 June 2018.
Nature

© Jasper Doest
A Caribbean flamingo inspects the improvised socks created to help heal its severe foot lesions, at the Fundashon Dier en Onderwijs Cariben, Curaçao.

© Angel Fitor
A winged comb jelly, Leucothea multicornis, its wings widely opened, propels itself through waters off Alicante, Spain.

© Bence Máté
Frogs with their legs severed and surrounded by frogspawn struggle to the surface, after being thrown back into the water in Covasna, Eastern Carpathians, Romania, in April 2018.
Portraits

© Heba Khamis
Jochen (71) and Mohamed (21; not his real name) sit in the Tiergarten, Berlin. Jochen fell in love after meeting Mohamed, then a sex worker in the park. They have been dating for 19 months.

© Alonya Kochetkova
Alonya Kochetkova sits at home, unable to face borscht (beet soup), her favorite food, during treatment for cancer.

© Finbarr O’Reilly
Diarra Ndiaye, Ndeye Fatou Mbaye and Malezi Sakho model outfits by designer Adama Paris, in the Medina neighborhood of the Senegalese capital, Dakar, as curious residents look on.
Sports

© David Gray/Reuters
Naomi Osaka serves during her match against Simona Halep from Romania during the Australian Open tennis tournament, at Margaret Court Arena, Melbourne, Australia, on 22 January.

© Terrell Groggins
Olympic champion Claressa Shields (right) meets Hanna Gabriels in a boxing match at the Masonic Temple in Detroit, Michigan, USA, on 22 June.

© John T. Pedersen
Boxer Morin Ajambo (30) trains in Katanga, a large slum settlement in Kampala, Uganda, on 24 March.
Spot news

© Ezra Acayan
The body of Michael Nadayao lies in the street after he was shot dead by unidentified men in front of mourners at a wake, in Quezon City, Philippines, on 31 August 2018.

© Pedro Pardo/Agence France-Presse
Central American migrants climb the border fence between Mexico and the United States, near El Chaparral border crossing, Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, on 25 November 2018.
The winners of the major awards and each category in both contests will be revealed during the Awards Show in Amsterdam on 11 April 2019. From there, the prize-winning photos will be assembled into a year-long exhibition that visits 45 countries and 100 cities. All nominees will be paid the trip to the event, and the winners will receive a Golden Eye Award and a diploma at the Awards Show. The winners of the World Press Photo of the Year and the World Press Photo Story of the Year will win a cash prize of 10,000 euros.
FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!