Yasuyoshi Chiba has been announced as World Press Photo of the Year winner for 2020 for an image titled Straight Voice, taken in Khartoum, Sudan, on 19 June 2019.
‘Straight Voice’, the 2020 World Press Photo of the Year. © Yasuyoshi Chiba, Japan, is Agence France-Presse.
The winning image shows a young man, illuminated by mobile phones, reciting protest poetry while demonstrators chant slogans calling for civilian rule, during a blackout in Khartoum, Sudan, on 19 June 2019. “This moment was the only peaceful group protest I encountered during my stay. I felt their undefeated solidarity like burning embers that remain to flare up again,” commented the photographer.
The jury chose Kho, the Genesis of a Revolt by Romain Laurendeau as the World Press Photo Story of the Year. The winning series tells the story of the deep unease of Algerian youth, who, by daring to challenge authority, inspired the rest of the population to join their action, giving birth to the largest protest movement in Algeria in decades. Battleground PolyU, by DJ Clark/China Daily, was chosen as the World Press Photo Interactive of the Year. Scenes from a Dry City by Francois Verster/ Simon Wood/Field of Vision, whichexposes the exacerbation of social inequality due to water shortage in Cape Town, South Africa, was selected as the World Press Photo Online Video of the Year.
The prize-winning photographs are assembled into a year-long worldwide exhibition, which premieres every year at De Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam. Due to safety concerns surrounding COVID-19, the opening at De Nieuwe Kerk and other locations have been postponed. New dates will be announced soon. The winning photos are also published in an annual yearbook, which is available in six languages. Click here to visit the World Press Photo website where the winners of the various categories are presented.
