A woman wearing jeans and sneakers is seen from the waist down. An officer wearing blue rubber gloves stands behind her, his hands searching her body before taking her in to custody. At the woman’s feet, a little girl is crying.
The photo is the winning shot of the World Press Photo 2019.
A lot of people have already seen the heart-breaking photo of a Honduran mother and her child being detained at the American border in their quest to seek asylum. It brings truth to the statement that a picture says more than a thousand words. It even drew so much attention to President Donald Trump’s strict immigration laws resulting in the reversing of the policy criminally prosecuting all immigrants at the border.
This and the other contestant photos can be seen at ICONSIAM in Bangkok from 11 December 2019 to 5 January 2020. Get there by catching the free shuttle boat from Sathorn Pier. In Siem Reap the photos can be seen until 22 December 2019.
Whereas you might have to fork out at other venues, the Embassy of the Netherlands in Thailand are sponsoring the respective exhibitions, so visitors in both Thailand and Cambodia can go for free.
Among photos of devastating catastrophes, war and death, visitors can also be put in a happier mood by pink dressed models, Nigerian twins and the flamingo Bob.
The photos are arranged in categories such as environment, nature, general news and portraits. For those more interested in sport there is also a category, for which Norwegian photographer John T. Pedersen has taken home a first prize.
About the contest
The 2019 World Press Photo Contest is the 62nd of its kind. It all started in Amsterdam in 1955 when a group of photographers decided to have an international photo contest.
Since then it has only grown and for the 2019 contest, 4,738 photographers from 129 countries submitted more than 78,801 photos for the jury to review.
The World Press Photo Foundation is a non-profit organisation and the winners of year’s World Press Photo and World Press Story recieve 10,000 Euros each.
