The winning photos of the 2025 World Press Photo contest

Participants at “Heavenly Bodies,” an underground drag ballroom event during Lagos Pride, celebrate the “mother of the year” winner. Lagos, Nigeria, 21 June 2024. Winner Africa Single.

Yohanna (22) resting next to her mother after she received treatment for complications arising from kidney removal. Shot by Eritrean police at the border, she woke up at a hospital where she learned that one of her kidneys had been removed. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 31 October 2017.

A protestor raises a fist in defiance as Kenyan police officers use a water cannon to disperse the gathering. Pink dye in the water is often used by police at protests to mark individuals for identification. Nairobi, Kenya, 20 June 2024.

A long-tailed macaque looks into a motorbike’s side mirror, near Phra Prang Sam Yot temple. Lopburi, Thailand, 3 February 2024.

A man wades through a street flooded by heavy rains from Typhoon Toraij. Ilagan City, Isabela, northern Philippines, 12 November 2024.

Members of the Special Operations Force (SOF), a PDF unit, dig graves for four resistance fighters who died in an attack on a government military camp. Taung Soon, Kayin State, Myanmar, 26 April 2024.

Russian flags and those of various units of the Russian defence forces and Wagner Group fly over the graves of soldiers killed in Ukraine. Tomsk, Russia, 30 August 2023.

A young man brings food to his mother who lives in the village of Manacapuru. The village was once accessible by boat, but because of the drought, he must walk 2 kilometers along the dry riverbed of the Solimões River to reach her. Amazonas, Brazil, 5 October 2024.

Members of the United States Secret Service help Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump off stage moments after a bullet from an attempted assassin hit his ear during a campaign rally. Butler, Pennsylvania, United States, 13 July 2024.

Maria Elena Lozano mourns at her son’s coffin. Maria Elena’s son, Marvin Diaz Lozano, became sick in jail, was released after photographs of his mistreatment went viral on social media, and later died due to lack of proper medical treatment while imprisoned. Usulután, El Salvador, 29 July 2024.

A flooded street corner in Canoas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, 5 May 2024.

At least 2,463 kolbars were killed or injured in Iranian Kurdistan between 2011 and 2024. Every year brides become widows due to the dangerous occupation. Kurdistan, Iran, 21 March 2023.

Mohamed Khaled Krayem, free after seven years in prison for marijuana possession, finds his muscle memory instinctively reproduces the sleeping position he was forced to adopt in his crowded cell. Damascus, Syria, 15 December 2024.

A corridor of the infamous Sednaya prison, which at some point held up to 20,000 inmates, and where military defectors and dissidents were subject to brutal beatings, electric shocks, and starvation. Damascus, Syria, 14 December 2024.

Luis Miguel Arias (28) takes a break with his daughter Melissa (4) as they climb a hill. They are from Venezuela and joined the over 250,000 migrants who traversed the gap in 2022. Darién Gap, 23 September 2022.

María Camila, Luisa, and Noraisi Birry stand by the grave of their sister Yadira, while wearing the paruma shawls Yadira left behind. Yadira Birry (16) took her own life with a paruma on 7 April 2023. Chocó, Colombia, 20 June 2024.

People vandalize a statue of former Bangladesh president, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the father of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who had resigned following weeks of unrest. Dhaka, Bangladesh, 5 August 2024.

Ahitana (23) has attempted suicide several times. Originally from the Emberá Katio community, she now lives in Bogotá, where she faces hostility, mistreatment, and lack of economic opportunities. Bogotá, Colombia, 9 February 2024.

The Emberá Dobida community of Puerto Antioquia, in Chocó, has 141 inhabitants and has reported more than 15 suicide attempts since 2015. Chocó, Colombia, 21 June 2024

Thousands have lost their lives crossing these mountains. Kurdistan, Iran, 8 February 2019.