The 2025 World Press Photo award was won by Samar Abu Elouf, whose photograph of Mahmoud Ajjour, a ten-year-old boy who lost both arms in an Israeli attack on Gaza, encapsulates the harsh realities of conflict. Abu Elouf, a Gaza native living in Doha, connected deeply with Mahmoud’s plight, recalling her own children as she captured his image. This year’s award marks a shift in representation under director Joumana El Zein Khoury, emphasizing the inclusion of local photographers to reflect the communities they depict. The policy aims to diversify the winner pool, moving beyond the traditional dominance of Western photographers.
“When I arrived, I thought, how can we call ourselves the World Press Photo when most of our winners have come from Europe and the United States and they’re white men.”
“I used to see him looking at the children playing, and I used to feel his pain,” she says. When he agreed to being photographed, she asked his mother to call her when the sun was shining into their apartment.”
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