“Mahmoud Ajjour, Aged Nine” © Samar Abu Elouf, for The New York Times. 2025 World Press Photo of the Year
“Mahmoud Ajjour (9), who was injured during an Israeli attack on Gaza City in March 2024, finds refuge and medical help in Qatar. Doha, Qatar, 28 June 2024.
As his family fled an Israeli assault, Mahmoud turned back to urge others 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 use his feet to play games on his phone, write, and open doors. Aside from that, he needs special assistance for most daily activities, such as eating and dressing. Mahmoud’s dream is simple: he wants to get prosthetics and live his life as any other child.
The photographer, who is from Gaza and was herself evacuated in December 2023, lives in the same Doha apartment complex as Mahmoud in Qatar. She has bonded with families there, and documented some of the few badly wounded Gazans who made it out for treatment.
Children are disproportionately impacted by the war. The United Nations Works and Relief Agency (UNWRA) estimates that by December 2024, Gaza had more child amputees per capita than anywhere else in the world. From early on in the war, Qatar, which has been prioritizing and developing its healthcare system, mediated deals to evacuate critically injured people for treatment. By March 2025, more than 7,000 patients had been evacuated from Gaza for medical treatment, but at least 11,000 others remained there awaiting evacuation, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) The evacuees have been taken to countries including Egypt, Jordan, Qatar and Turkey.
Tens of thousands of others have been killed and more than 100,000 have been injured, according to the territory’s health authorities. The health system, decimated during the war, is ill-equipped to care for them: by March 2025, only 21 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals remain partly functional, according to the WHO.”
Once again, an image of the human cost of war was named World Press Photo of the Year. In 2024, Mohammed Salem's haunting photo of a woman cradling her dead niece, who was killed in Israeli airstrikes, was honored with the prize. And in 2025, Samar Abu Elouf gives a glimpse of the reality for children who may have made it out of Gaza alive, but will be forever be marked by these horrific events.
The Palestinian photographer, who evacuated Gaza in 2023, won the prestigious photojournalism award for her striking portrait of 9-year-old Mahmoud Ajjour, who lost his arms and injured other limbs trying to help his family flee during an Israeli attack. He was evacuated, along with his family, to Qatar and now lives in the photographer's apartment complex. Though he's alive, his life is forever changed both physically and emotionally, as he learns to adapt to life without his arms and hopes to one day get prosthetics. The photo, taken for The New York Times, is part of Elouf's work in documenting the lives of wounded Gazans who have made it out alive.
“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,” explains global jury chair, Lucy Conticello, director of photography for M, Le Monde‘s weekend magazine.
“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.”
In addition to Elouf's winning image, two others were selected as finalists for World Press Photo of the Year. John Moore‘s work on Chinese immigrants entering the United States from Mexico and Musuk Nolte‘s examination of how droughts have impacted life along the Brazilian Amazon were singled out for their exceptional quality.
“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,” shares Conticello. “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.”
Scroll down to see the finalists and click here to see more winners from the 2025 World Press Photo Contest.
The World Press Photo Contest has announced the 2025 World Press Photo of the Year.
“Night Crossing” © John Moore, Getty Images. 2025 World Press Photo of the Year Finalist
“Chinese migrants warm themselves during a cold rain after crossing the US–Mexico border. Campo, California, 7 March 2024.
Chinese immigrants constitute the third-largest immigrant group in the US, with unauthorized immigration from China to the US increasing significantly in the past two years. Encounters between unauthorized Chinese nationals and US Customs and Border Protection at the US-Mexico border surged from roughly 2,200 in 2022 to 38,200 in 2024, while encounters at the US-Canada border almost doubled from 6,700 to 12,400.
The surge in Chinese migrants has been fueled by escalating socioeconomic issues within China, compounded by prolonged waiting times for green cards and heightened scrutiny for work, student, and other long-term US visas for Chinese citizens. The absence of economic prospects and financial setbacks due to China's stringent zero-COVID policies prompted many Chinese migrants to seek opportunities elsewhere. Additionally, suppression of free speech and religious freedom have also contributed to emigration.
Social media platforms have played a significant role in this phenomenon, with video tutorials providing step-by-step guides on how to navigate the complexities of the US-Mexico border. These videos, often depicting successful border crossings, paint an alluring if misleading picture of life in the US.
This image, both otherworldly and intimate, depicts the complex realities of migration at the border, beyond statistics and media sensationalism. It highlights the desperation of those seeking a better life, while exposing the harsh realities for individuals, whose stories are often obscured by political rhetoric.”
“Droughts in the Amazon” © Musuk Nolte, Panos Pictures, Bertha Foundation. 2025 World Press Photo of the Year Finalist
“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 the dry riverbed of the Solimões River to reach her.
Typically, water levels in the Amazon fluctuate between the rainy and dry seasons. However, this year's dry season has been particularly severe, causing critical drops in all major rivers across the Amazon basin. The ongoing drought is not merely a natural occurrence; it is closely linked to climate change.
According to Brazil's geological service, the Negro River at the port of Manaus measured just 12.66 meters at the beginning of October, far below its normal level of approximately 21 meters. This is the lowest recorded level since measurements began 122 years ago.
Declining water levels threaten the region’s rich biodiversity and disrupt vital river ecosystems. Local communities that rely on these rivers for fishing, transportation, and other livelihoods are facing severe hardships. Many have found themselves cut off, with their boats stranded on expansive sandbanks. As droughts intensify, many settlers face the difficult choice of abandoning their land and livelihoods for urban areas, changing the social fabric of this region permanently.
This project makes the effects of climate change, which can so often be abstract or difficult to represent, appear as a tangible and concrete reality shaping the futures of vulnerable communities closely connected with the natural world.”
