World Press Photo of the Year 2019 Contest Nominees

The nominees for the World Press Photo of the Year contest have been announced. Now in its 62nd year, the competition honors photojournalists who have captured images that manage to encapsulate the year, or represent an issue, situation or event of great journalistic importance, while demonstrating an outstanding level of visual perception and creativity.

Women make up 32% of the nominees this year, a significant increase from the 2018 Photo Contest, when just 12% of the nominees were female photographers.

In addition to the main prize for the best single image, there is also a prize for the best photo story. Further awards are made in eight categories: General News, Spot News, Environment, Nature, Contemporary Issues, Portraits, Sports and Long-Term Projects.

The winners will be announced on April 11. Until then, Newsweek presents the nominees for the 2019 World Press Photo of the Year contest, starting with the six nominees for the press photo of the year, then looking at each of the categories, before ending with photo stories.

The nominees for the World Press Photo of the Year:

Crying Girl on the Border, John Moore, Getty Images

Immigrant families had rafted across the Rio Grande from Mexico and were detained by the authorities. Yana (who was approaching her second birthday) and her mother had been part of a refugee caravan that started its journey in southern Mexico in April. On 6 April, the US Attorney General Jeff Sessions had announced a 'zero tolerance' immigration policy, stating that people caught entering the US illegally would be criminally prosecuted. Soon afterwards, news outlets began to report that parents who had been apprehended were being separated from their children. Yana's father, still in Honduras, later made it clear that Yana and Sandra had not been parted. Nevertheless, public outcry—in which this image played a role—resulted in President Donald Trump halting family separations on 20 June.

Akashinga—The Brave Ones, Brent Stirton, Getty Images

Akashinga ('The Brave Ones') is a ranger force established as an alternative conservation model. It aims to work with, rather than against local populations, for the long-term benefits of their communities and the environment. Akashinga comprises women from disadvantaged backgrounds, empowering them, offering jobs, and helping local people to benefit directly from the preservation of wildlife. Other strategies—such as using fees from trophy hunting to fund conservation—have been criticized for imposing solutions from the outside and excluding the needs of local people.

Victims of an Alleged Gas Attack Receive Treatment in Eastern Ghouta, Mohammed Badra, European Pressphoto Agency

By February 2018, the people of Eastern Ghouta, a suburban district outside Damascus and one of the last rebel enclaves in the ongoing Syrian conflict, had been under siege by government forces for five years. During the final offensive, Eastern Ghouta came under rocket fire and air bombardment, including at least one alleged gas attack—on the village of al-Shifunieh, on 25 February 2018. Figures are difficult to verify, but Médecins Sans Frontiѐres (MSF) reported 4,829 wounded and 1,005 killed between 18 February and 3 March 2018, according to data from medical facilities they supported alone. MSF also reported 13 hospitals and clinics damaged or destroyed in just three days. Reports on the end of the siege in Eastern Ghouta are conflicting, though the Syrian army appear to have recaptured most of the south of the country by July. UNICEF reported the siege of Eastern Ghouta to have ended by late-March, with limited humanitarian access becoming available.

Being Pregnant After FARC Child-Bearing Ban, Catalina Martin-Chico, Panos

Since the signing of a peace agreement between the Colombian government and the FARC rebel movement in 2016, there has been a baby boom among former female guerillas. Pregnancy was thought incompatible with guerrilla life. Women were obliged to put war before children, leaving babies with relatives or, some say, undergoing forced abortions—a charge FARC denies.

Almajiri Boy, Marco Gualazzini, Contrasto

A humanitarian crisis is underway in the Chad Basin, caused by a complex combination of political conflict and environmental factors. Lake Chad—once one of Africa's largest lakes and a lifeline to 40 million people—is experiencing massive desertification. As a result of unplanned irrigation, extended drought, deforestation and resource mismanagement, the size of the lake has decreased by 90 percent over the past 60 years. Traditional livelihoods such as fishing have withered, and water shortages are causing conflict between farmers and cattle herders. Jihadist group Boko Haram, which is active in the area, both benefits from the hardship and widespread hunger and contributes to it. The group uses local villages as a recruiting ground, and the protracted conflict has uprooted 2.5 million people, exacerbating food insecurity.

The Disappearance of Jamal Kashoggi, Chris McGrath, Getty Images

A critic of the Saudi regime, Khashoggi had been missing since entering the consulate on 2 October to obtain documents. After weeks of rumor and false information, Riyadh announced that Khashoggi had been killed accidentally during an altercation. Turkish authorities and the CIA claimed he had been murdered by Saudi intelligence operatives, working under high Saudi authority.

The nominees for General News single image:

The nominees for Spot News single image:

The nominees for Environment single image:

The nominees for Nature single image:

The nominees for Contemporary Issues single image:

The nominees for Portrait single image:

The nominees for Sports single image:

The nominees for Long Term Projects:

Beckon Us From Home, Sarah Blesener

State of Decay, Alejandro Cegarra

The House That Bleeds, Yael Martínez

The three nominees for the World Press Photo Story of the Year:

The Lake Chad Crisis, Marco Gualazzini, Contrasto

A humanitarian crisis is underway in the Chad Basin, caused by a complex combination of political conflict and environmental factors. Lake Chad—once one of Africa's largest lakes and a lifeline to 40 million people—is experiencing massive desertification. As a result of unplanned irrigation, extended drought, deforestation and resource mismanagement, the size of the lake has decreased by 90 percent over the past 60 years. Traditional livelihoods such as fishing have withered, and water shortages are causing conflict between farmers and cattle herders. Jihadist group Boko Haram, which is active in the area, both benefits from the hardship and widespread hunger and contributes to it. The group uses local villages as a recruiting ground, and the protracted conflict has uprooted 2.5 million people, exacerbating food insecurity.

The Migrant Caravan, Pieter Ten Hoopen, Agence Vu/Civilian Act

During October and November 2018, thousands of Central American refugees joined a caravan heading to the United States border. The caravan, assembled through a grassroots social media campaign, left San Pedro Sula, Honduras, on 12 October 2018, and as word spread drew people from Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala. They were a mix of those facing political repression and violence, and those fleeing harsh economic conditions in the hope of a better life. Traveling in a caravan offered a degree of safety on a route where migrants have previously disappeared or been kidnapped, and was an alternative to paying high rates to people smugglers.

Migrant caravans travel to the US border at different times each year, but this was the largest in recent memory with as many as 7,000 travelers, including at least 2,300 children, according to UN agencies. Conditions along the way were grueling, with people walking around 30 km a day, often in temperatures above 30℃. The caravan usually set off at around 4am each day to avoid the heat. Like others, this caravan drew condemnation from US president Donald Trump, who made it a focal point of rallies and used it to reiterate his call for tough immigration policies and the building of a border wall.

Yemen Crisis, Lorenzo Tugnoli, Contrasto, for The Washington Post

After nearly four years of conflict in Yemen, at least 8.4 million people are at risk of starvation and 22 million people—75% of the population—are in need of humanitarian assistance, according to the UN. In 2014, Houthi Shia Muslim rebels seized northern areas of the country, forcing the president, Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, into exile. The conflict spread, and escalated when Saudi Arabia, in coalition with eight other mostly Sunni Arab states, began air strikes against the Houthis. By 2018, the war had led to what the UN termed the world's worst man-made humanitarian disaster.