Reuters photographer Mohammed Salem wins 2024 World Press Photo of the Year award

Reuters photographer Mohammed Salem won the prestigious World Press Photo of the Year 2024 award on Thursday for his image of a Palestinian woman cradling the body of her 5-year-old granddaughter in the Gaza Strip.

The photo was taken on October 17, 2023 at the Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, south of Gaza, where families were searching for relatives killed during Israeli bombing in the Palestinian enclave.

Salem’s winning image depicts Inas Abu Maamar, 36, sobbing as she holds Saly’s body, covered in a sheet, in the hospital morgue.

“Mohammed greeted the news of the WPP award with humility, saying that this is not a photo to celebrate, but that he appreciates its recognition and the opportunity to publish it for a wider audience,” said Rickey Rogers, global photo editor and video from Reuters. during a ceremony in Amsterdam.

“He hopes that, with this award, the world will become even more aware of the human impact of war, especially on children,” Rogers said, standing in front of the photo in the Nieuwe Kerk in the Dutch capital.

In announcing its annual awards, the Amsterdam-based World Press Photo Foundation said it was important to recognize the dangers faced by journalists covering conflict.

He said 99 journalists and media workers have been killed while covering the war between Israel and Hamas since the Palestinian militant group attacked southern Israel on October 7 and Israel responded by launching a military offensive in Gaza.

“The work of journalistic and documentary photographers around the world is often done at high risk,” said Joumana El Zein Khoury, the organization’s executive director.

“Last year, the death toll in Gaza brought the number of journalists killed to a near-record high. It is important to recognize the trauma they suffer to show the world the humanitarian impact of war.”

Salem, a 39-year-old Palestinian, has worked for Reuters since 2003. He also won an award in the 2010 World Press Photo competition.

The jury said Salem’s 2024 winning image was “composed with care and respect, while offering a metaphorical and literal look at unimaginable loss.”

“I felt the photo summed up the larger sense of what was happening in the Gaza Strip,” Salem said when the image was first published in November.

“People were confused, running from place to place, anxious to know the fate of their loved ones, and this woman caught my attention because she held the girl’s body and refused to let go.”

Salem’s wife had given birth to their son days before he took the photo.

The photograph is “deeply moving”, said Fiona Shields, member of the judging panel and head of photography at Guardian News & Media.

The jury selected the winning photos from 61,062 submissions from 3,851 photographers from 130 countries.

Source: Terra

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