World Press Photo contest reveals the stunning 2021 winners

After giving us a little teaser with its 2021 nominees, the World Press Photo Contest has now announced this year’s winners. The best of the best for the World Press Photo contest and Digital Storytelling Contest have been announced, and we bring you the stunning selection of photos below.

This year marks the 64th World Press Photo Contest and 11th Digital Storytelling Contest, both led by The World Press Photo Foundation. Photographers and videographers from all over the world submitted their work in eight categories:

• Contemporary Issues
• Environment
• General News
• Long-Term Projects
• Nature
• Portraits
• Sports
• Spot News

The 2021 World Press Photo of the Year is Mads Nissen’s image The First Embrace. It shows Rosa Luzia Lunardi (85) embraced by nurse Adriana Silva da Costa Souza, at Viva Bem care home, São Paulo, Brazil, on 5 August 2020.

“To me, this is a story about hope and love in the most difficult times,” Nissen said about his winning photo. “When I learned about the crisis that was unfolding in Brazil and the poor leadership of president Bolsonaro who has been neglecting this virus from the very beginning, who’s been calling it ‘a small flu,’ I really felt an urge to do something about it.”

The World Press Photo Story of the Year is Antonio Faccilongo’s Habibi. It’s a chronicle of love stories set against the backdrop of one of the longest and most complicated contemporary conflicts, the Israeli-Palestinian war. The story shows the impact of the conflict on Palestinian families, and the difficulties they face in preserving their reproductive rights and human dignity.

Faccilongo says about the winning story: “My work has the ambition to be a cultural bridge to bring people together.”

Both Nissen and Faccilongo have won a cash prize of 5,000 euros and will be the guests of the World Press Photo Festival 2021. Speaking of the festival, it will be held online this year due to this never-ending pandemic. It takes place between 15-17 April 2021, and you can see the program and meet the speakers here.

The good news is that the exhibition showing the work of winners and nominees will take place live. It premieres every year at De Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam and travels to other countries around the world. Due to COVID-19 measures in the Netherlands, the exhibition won’t be open on 17 April as planned, but the new opening date will be announced soon. And of course, all exhibitions will follow COVID-19 public health guidelines. Stay tuned and find more information on the World Press Photo website.