The winners of the World Press Photo 2024 competition have been announced. In the European region, photos by photographer Yulia Kochetova, as well as photos from Ukraine by Johanna-Maria Fritz, dedicated to the dam destroyed by Russians in Kakhovka, were noted.
The list was published on April 3rd.
The organizers of the competition note that the winners were selected from over 61,000 entries, and these works are "powerful, bold, and brave examples of photojournalism and documentary photography from around the world, documenting events that shaped the world in the past year."
Kochetova's project is titled "War Is Personal."
"Amidst tens of thousands of civilian and military casualties and an effective stalemate that has lasted for months, there are no signs of peace on the horizon for Russia’s war in Ukraine. While news media updates its audience with statistics and maps, and international attention drifts elsewhere, the photographer has created a website that brings together photojournalism with the personal documentary style of a diary to show the world what it is like to live with war as an everyday reality."
The website notes that the project combines photographs with poetry, audio clips, and music.
The jury also recognized the photograph by Johanna-Maria Fritz titled "Kakhovka Dam: Flood on a War Zone."
The competition's website noted that explosions damaged the wall of the Russian-controlled Kakhovka Dam, leading to massive floods in Kherson and inundating around 17,500 homes. Subsequently, Ukraine initiated a case of ecocide against Russia in the International Criminal Court.
"The photographer's approach reveals the human impact of militarization on the environment," the description says.
According to the jury, the project prompts viewers to contemplate issues of landscape use for military purposes and technological disasters, while also drawing attention to the war in Ukraine.
