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A Look At The 2023 Winners Of The Prestigious 'World Press Photo' Competition

Evgeniy Maloletka of the AP won the World Press Photo of the Year for his photograph titled Mariupol Maternity Hospital Airstrike, which captures the pain and suffering brought on by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The World Press Photo Story of the Year was awarded to Mads Nissen of Politiken/Panos Pictures for his The Price Of Peace In Afghanistan. The World Press Photo Long-Term Project Award went to Anush Babajanyan VII Photo/National Geographic Society for Battered Waters, her coverage of water management and its impact on Central Asia. A photo-based video from Iran titled Woman, Life, Freedom by 10 anonymous Middle East Images/Iranwire photographers was also awarded in the competition. Additional winners from RFE/RL's coverage regions are also presented.

World Press Photo is an independent nonprofit organization that supports photojournalism. This year's winners were chosen from more than 60,000 entries (still images and multimedia) submitted by 3,752 entrants from 127 countries. The entries were judged first by six regional juries, and winners were chosen by a global jury consisting of the regional jury chairs plus the global jury chair. The winners of the prestigious international contest were announced on April 20.

Iryna Kalinina, an injured pregnant woman, is carried from a maternity hospital that was damaged during a Russian air strike in Mariupol, Ukraine, on March 9, 2022. Her baby, named Miron (after the word for "peace"), was stillborn, and half an hour later Iryna died as well. World Press Photo of the Year: Mariupol Maternity Hospital Airstrike by Evgeniy Maloletka, AP
1 Iryna Kalinina, an injured pregnant woman, is carried from a maternity hospital that was damaged during a Russian air strike in Mariupol, Ukraine, on March 9, 2022. Her baby, named Miron (after the word for "peace"), was stillborn, and half an hour later Iryna died as well.

World Press Photo of the Year: Mariupol Maternity Hospital Airstrike by Evgeniy Maloletka, AP
Khalil Ahmad, 15, poses in Herat, Afghanistan, on January 19, 2022, after his parents sold his kidney for $3,500 in order to afford food for the family. The lack of jobs and the threat of starvation has led to a dramatic increase in the illegal organ trade in Afghanistan. World Press Photo Story of the Year: The Price Of Peace In Afghanistan by Mads Nissen, Politiken/Panos Pictures
2 Khalil Ahmad, 15, poses in Herat, Afghanistan, on January 19, 2022, after his parents sold his kidney for $3,500 in order to afford food for the family. The lack of jobs and the threat of starvation has led to a dramatic increase in the illegal organ trade in Afghanistan.

World Press Photo Story of the Year: The Price Of Peace In Afghanistan by Mads Nissen, Politiken/Panos Pictures
Women and children beg for bread outside a bakery in central Kabul on January 14, 2022. World Press Photo Story of the Year: The Price Of Peace In Afghanistan by Mads Nissen, Politiken/Panos Pictures
3 Women and children beg for bread outside a bakery in central Kabul on January 14, 2022.

World Press Photo Story of the Year: The Price Of Peace In Afghanistan by Mads Nissen, Politiken/Panos Pictures
The Islamic declaration of faith, "There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is His messenger," covers the wall of the former U.S. Embassy in Kabul. World Press Photo Story of the Year: The Price Of Peace In Afghanistan by Mads Nissen, Politiken/Panos Pictures
4 The Islamic declaration of faith, "There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is His messenger," covers the wall of the former U.S. Embassy in Kabul.

World Press Photo Story of the Year: The Price Of Peace In Afghanistan by Mads Nissen, Politiken/Panos Pictures
Jaynagul Brjieva and her family enjoy an outing to a hot spring in Kaji-Say, Kyrgyzstan, on March 9, 2021. The waters are thought by some to have healing properties. World Press Photo Long-Term Project Award: Battered Waters by Anush Babajanyan, VII Photo/National Geographic Society  
5 Jaynagul Brjieva and her family enjoy an outing to a hot spring in Kaji-Say, Kyrgyzstan, on March 9, 2021. The waters are thought by some to have healing properties.

World Press Photo Long-Term Project Award: Battered Waters by Anush Babajanyan, VII Photo/National Geographic Society

 
An inhabitant of the village of Istiqlol in Tajikistan rests beside her greenhouse on the River Vakhsh, a tributary of the Amu Darya, on March 23, 2022. She uses river water to irrigate her cucumbers. World Press Photo Long-Term Project Award: Battered Waters by Anush Babajanyan, VII Photo/National Geographic Society  
6 An inhabitant of the village of Istiqlol in Tajikistan rests beside her greenhouse on the River Vakhsh, a tributary of the Amu Darya, on March 23, 2022. She uses river water to irrigate her cucumbers.

World Press Photo Long-Term Project Award: Battered Waters by Anush Babajanyan, VII Photo/National Geographic Society
 
Sonunbek Kadyrov pilots his water taxi, serving the village of Kyzyl-Beyit, Kyrgyzstan, on March 16, 2021. Local access to the main road was blocked by flooding during construction of the Toktogul Dam in the 1960s. World Press Photo Long-Term Project Award: Battered Waters by Anush Babajanyan, VII Photo/National Geographic Society  
7 Sonunbek Kadyrov pilots his water taxi, serving the village of Kyzyl-Beyit, Kyrgyzstan, on March 16, 2021. Local access to the main road was blocked by flooding during construction of the Toktogul Dam in the 1960s.

World Press Photo Long-Term Project Award: Battered Waters by Anush Babajanyan, VII Photo/National Geographic Society
 
Silt in the Amu Darya River in Uzbekistan gives the water a dark red color, as water levels continue to decrease on October 18, 2019. World Press Photo Long-Term Project Award: Battered Waters by Anush Babajanyan, VII Photo/National Geographic Society
8 Silt in the Amu Darya River in Uzbekistan gives the water a dark red color, as water levels continue to decrease on October 18, 2019.

World Press Photo Long-Term Project Award: Battered Waters by Anush Babajanyan, VII Photo/National Geographic Society
This photo-based video project narrates one chaotic night in the life of an Iranian nurse as she saves the life of a young protester named Reza. The footage offers a glimpse into the dangers faced by protesters on the streets of Iran today. Protests started in September 2022 after Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, died after she was arrested by Iran's morality police for allegedly violating the country’s strict rules restricting the dress and conduct of women. World Press Photo Open Format Award: Woman, Life, Freedom, by Anonymous
9 This photo-based video project narrates one chaotic night in the life of an Iranian nurse as she saves the life of a young protester named Reza. The footage offers a glimpse into the dangers faced by protesters on the streets of Iran today. Protests started in September 2022 after Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, died after she was arrested by Iran's morality police for allegedly violating the country’s strict rules restricting the dress and conduct of women.

World Press Photo Open Format Award: Woman, Life, Freedom, by Anonymous
Journalists and photographers attempting to report on the protests face reprisals from the Iranian regime, ranging from intimidation to arrest and violent abuse. The photographers who captured these images remain anonymous for security reasons. World Press Photo Open Format Award: Woman, Life, Freedom by Anonymous
10 Journalists and photographers attempting to report on the protests face reprisals from the Iranian regime, ranging from intimidation to arrest and violent abuse. The photographers who captured these images remain anonymous for security reasons.

World Press Photo Open Format Award: Woman, Life, Freedom by Anonymous
World Press Photo Open Format Award: Woman, Life, Freedom by Anonymous
11 World Press Photo Open Format Award: Woman, Life, Freedom by Anonymous
Consoled by her partner, Yevgeniy Vlasenko, and her mother, Lyubov, Yana Bachek cries over the body of her father, Victor Gubarev, who was killed while buying bread during the shelling of Kharkiv, Ukraine, on April 18, 2022. World Press Photo Contest, Europe, Singles: Yana And Victor by Alkis Konstantinidis, Reuters  
12 Consoled by her partner, Yevgeniy Vlasenko, and her mother, Lyubov, Yana Bachek cries over the body of her father, Victor Gubarev, who was killed while buying bread during the shelling of Kharkiv, Ukraine, on April 18, 2022.

World Press Photo Contest, Europe, Singles: Yana And Victor by Alkis Konstantinidis, Reuters
 
Russian Army tanks move through a street on the outskirts of Mariupol, Ukraine, on March 11, 2022. World Press Photo, Europe, Stories: The Siege Of Mariupol by Evgeniy Maloletka, AP  
13 Russian Army tanks move through a street on the outskirts of Mariupol, Ukraine, on March 11, 2022.

World Press Photo, Europe, Stories: The Siege Of Mariupol by Evgeniy Maloletka, AP
 
Zhanna Goma (right) and her neighbors settle in a bomb shelter in Mariupol on March 6, 2022. World Press Photo, Europe, Stories: The Siege Of Mariupol by Evgeniy Maloletka, AP
14 Zhanna Goma (right) and her neighbors settle in a bomb shelter in Mariupol on March 6, 2022.

World Press Photo, Europe, Stories: The Siege Of Mariupol by Evgeniy Maloletka, AP
Serhiy Kralya, a civilian injured during shelling by Russian forces, rests after surgery at a hospital in Mariupol on March 11, 2022. World Press Photo, Europe, Stories: The Siege Of Mariupol by Evgeniy Maloletka, AP
15 Serhiy Kralya, a civilian injured during shelling by Russian forces, rests after surgery at a hospital in Mariupol on March 11, 2022.

World Press Photo, Europe, Stories: The Siege Of Mariupol by Evgeniy Maloletka, AP
Viktor carries his wife, Oksana Balandina, at a hospital in Lviv, Ukraine, on May 14, 2022. The couple married while Oksana was in the hospital, and Viktor carried her like this for their first dance. World Press Photo Europe Honorable Mention: Emilio Morenatti, AP  
16 Viktor carries his wife, Oksana Balandina, at a hospital in Lviv, Ukraine, on May 14, 2022. The couple married while Oksana was in the hospital, and Viktor carried her like this for their first dance.

World Press Photo Europe Honorable Mention: Emilio Morenatti, AP

 
An Iranian woman sits on a chair in front of a busy square in Tehran, defying the mandatory hijab law, on December 27, 2022. “A few days after Mahsa’s death, I was walking past Keshavarzi Boulevard when I saw a massive crowd of men and women, young and old, chanting a slogan that I’ve never heard before: ‘Woman, Life, Freedom.’ It enlightened me; it was moving,” she said. World Press Photo Asia Honorable Mention: Ahmad Halabisaz
17 An Iranian woman sits on a chair in front of a busy square in Tehran, defying the mandatory hijab law, on December 27, 2022. “A few days after Mahsa’s death, I was walking past Keshavarzi Boulevard when I saw a massive crowd of men and women, young and old, chanting a slogan that I’ve never heard before: ‘Woman, Life, Freedom.’ It enlightened me; it was moving,” she said.

World Press Photo Asia Honorable Mention: Ahmad Halabisaz
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