The annual photo contest exhibition sheds a stark light on today’s global challenges
The prestigious international photojournalism award returns to Rome with the finalists images of the 68th Edition of the World Press Photo. This year’s selection – featuring powerful portrayals of conflict, political violence, migration, and the devastating impacts of climate change — is especially unsettling and emotionally charged.
The show, promoted by Roma Capitale – Assessorato alla Cultura and organised by Azienda Speciale Palaexpo in collaboration with 10b Photography, will be on display until June 8 and presents 42 projects, and 144 photos awarded chosen between 59,000 photographs coming from 141 countries.
The photographic journey starts at the first floor of the museum and it is arranged around the main interior facing balaustre, forming a symbolic circle. This layout invites contemplation on humanity’s collective responsibility for today’s global crises. A wide board placed on the left side from the entry point displays awarded photos from 1955 until 2025 and it invites the public to engage in a profound reflection on the role of photography and the power of images through the years.
Through QR codes placed throughout the exhibition, visitors can listen to the photographers’ own voices via their mobile phones, gaining deeper insight into the context and conditions in which each image was captured.
Samar Abu Elouf’s photos, simply entitled Mahmoud Ajjour, Aged Nine, has been awarded World Press Photo of the Year. A young boy of 9 years old stands against a bright wall, missing both of his arms.
“This is a silent picture that speaks powerfully,” said WPP Executive Director Joumana El Zein Khoury. “It tells the story of a single child, but also of a broader war whose consequences will extend for generations.”
The jury praised the image for its humanistic approach, confronting the devastating physical and psychological toll of war without sensationalism.
Elouf, a self-taught photojournalist from Gaza City, is the first Palestinian woman to be awarded with World Press Photo of the Year award. Since 2010, she has been documenting daily life, news, and the profound effects of conflict on her country. Abu Elouf has worked with numerous international organizations including The New York Times, Reuters, NZZ, and Middle East Eye. “This project is just a small part of the countless painful stories that have accumulated in Gaza due to the ongoing war” Elouf said, reflecting on the emotional moment she first met young Mahmoud Ajjour.
Finalists: Migration and Climate Crisis on the spotlight
Two other standout finalists further highlight the pressing issues of our time. Night Crossing by American photographer John Moore captures Chinese migrants warming themselves around a fire after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border — a grim portrait of the human dimensions behind global migration.
Meanwhile, Droughts in the Amazon by Mexican photographer Musuk Nolte shows a boy bringing food to his mother in the village of Manacapuru, accessible today only on foot along the arid riverbed. For years the only access to the village was by boat, but climate change has disrupted the landscape and the lives of its inhabitants.
Italian recognition: Cinzia Canneri’s Long-Term lens on women’s struggles
It is worth noting that Cinzia Canneri, the sole Italian photographer selected this year, has been awarded the Long-Term projects prize, for her “Women’s Bodies as Battlefields”, an extensive and powerful work on women’s struggles in Eritrea and Ethiopia. Through years of fieldwork and deep engagement with her subjects, Canneri sheds light on the enduring psychological and physical trauma of conflict-related sexual violence. Her work offers an intimate, powerful testament to survival and resilience — and a voice to those too often forgotten.
WORLD PRESS PHOTO 2025
from 6 May until 8 June 2025
Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Via Nazionale, 194
Visiting hours:
Until May 13: Tuesday to Sunday 10am- 8pm
From May 14: from Sunday to Wednesday from 10 am to 8 pm;
from Thursday to Saturday from 10 am to 10.30 pm;
Tickets:
Full € 10; Reduced € 8
