A photo essay titled The Two Walls, which portrays the resilience of migrants in Mexico's borders is among the four winners of the World Press Photo, the most prestigious award for photojournalists.
The essay, photographed by Venezuelan Alejandro Cegarra for The New York Times and Bloomberg, won the Long-Term Project Award, a testament to Cegarra having began the project back in 2018.
"Since 2019, Mexico's immigration policies have undergone a significant shift, transforming from a nation historically open to migrants and asylum seekers at its southern border to a country that enforces stringent immigration policies", explained the World Press Photo jury, adding that Cegarra's own experience as a Venezuelan immigrant "afforded a sensitive human centered perspective that centers the agency and resilience of migrants."
"(Cegarra's) work documents the plight of deeply vulnerable migrant communities with respect and sensitivity. Through his photography, he hopes to foster greater understanding, empathy, and solidarity toward those on the frontlines of the global migration crisis.
The World Press Photo award for Photo of The Year went to Mohammed Salem of Reuters for his image titled A Palestinian Woman Embraces the Body of Her Niece, which portrays Inas Abu Maamar (36) cradling the body of her niece Saly (5) who was killed, along
with her mother and sister, when an Israeli missile struck their home in Khan Younis, Gaza.
Elsewhere, the jury awarded Lee-Ann Olwage with Photo Story of the Year for her work portraying dementia in Madagascar and Julia Kochetova with the Open Format Award for her web-based project that brings together photojournalism with the personal documentary style of a diary to show the everyday realities of the war in Ukraine.
Overall, the jury considered that "the works selected are a tapestry of our world today, centered on images we believe were made with a respect and integrity that could speak universally and resonate far beyond their origins."
You can find all the global winners of the 2024 World Press Photo below:
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