Danish photographer Mads Nissen won the World Press Photo competition again that year with his photograph The First Embrace, which was named World Press Photo of the Year. The jury selected Habibi by Antonio Faccilongo as World Press Photo Story of the Year.
In Mads Nissen’s winning image, Rosa Luzia Lunardi (85) is embraced by nurse Adriana Silva da Costa Souza at the Viva Bem nursing home in São Paulo, Brazil, on August 5, 2020.
The story: This was the first hug Rosa had received in five months. In March, nursing homes across the country had closed their doors to all visitors because of the COVID-19 pandemic, preventing millions of Brazilians from visiting elderly family members. Caregivers were instructed to keep physical contact with vulnerable residents to an absolute minimum. At Viva Bem, a simple invention called “The Hug Curtain” allowed people to embrace one another again.
Jury member Kevin WY Lee: “This iconic image of COVID-19 memorializes the most extraordinary moment of our lives, everywhere. I see vulnerability, loved ones, loss and separation, demise, but also, importantly, survival—all rolled into one graphic image. If you look at the image long enough, you see wings: a symbol of flight and hope.”
Nissen is a staff photographer for the Danish newspaper Politiken and is represented by Panos Pictures. He previously won World Press Photo 2014.
The winning World Press Photo Story of the Year series tells love stories set against the backdrop of one of the longest and most complex contemporary conflicts, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The story shows the conflict’s impact on Palestinian families and the challenges they face in preserving their reproductive rights and human dignity.
Dutch photographer Jasper Doest won the Nature category with the series Pandemic Pigeon – A Love Story.
The story: Ollie lands on a dirty plate as the photographer loads the dishwasher, while Dollie watches from outside in Vlaardingen, the Netherlands, on April 17, 2020.
Read more in World Press Photo 2021 Nominees.
World Press Photo, the world’s largest and most prestigious photography competition, has existed since 1955. The organization is based in Amsterdam. That year, the annual World Press Photo Festival was held online for the first time, from April 15–17, 2021.
More information is available at www.worldpressphoto.org.
