MANILA, PHILIPPINES — In its Philippine leg of the global exhibit, the 2023 World Press Photo Exhibition goes to Manila to showcase the works of the top photojournalists and documentary photographers who exposed the most pressing issues of the year 2022.
Among regional winners are two Filipinas: In her win in the long-term projects category, Kimberly dela Cruz’s chilling photographs confront the drug war in the Philippines in Death of a Nation from 2016 to 2022; meanwhile, capturing a comforting sense of care and community within an ageing LGBTQI+ group challenged by discrimination and socioeconomic hardships, Hannah Reyes Morales wins the regional award for the stories category for portraying warmth, joy, and dignity in Home for the Golden Gays.
Kimberly and Hannah are among the 24 regional winners chosen from over 60,000 entries submitted by 3,752 entrants from 127 countries. Six regional juries judged the entries, and all winners were selected by a global jury consisting of six regional juries and an international jury chair. The regional juries first chose a selection of entries per category in their regions, after which the global jury decided on the regional winners.
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Mothers and widows of war on drugs victims rehearse for a theatre performance in Tondo, Manila in the Philippines on November 22, 2019. The play is organized by Paghilom (Healing), a program for families of war on drugs victims. Sarah Celiz (center) lost two of her sons in 2016 and 2017 and was left to care for her 12 grandchildren.Uzbekistan: The abundant silt in the river Amu Darya, often gives the water a dark red color, an ominous look in the face of its gradual decrease of water levels. This historically important river, formerly known as the Oxus, and its battered waters, are further examples of water security touching every aspect of life in Central Asia.Uzbekistan: Dinara’s family is still dependent on the sea. Both her father and her husband work along its shores as Artemia Salina shrimp farmers, but the sea is now more than 180 kilometers away from their homes in Muynak.
18-year-old Dinara and her younger relative, on Dinara’s wedding day in Muynak, a former sea port in Uzbekistan, on October 27, 2019. Dinara’s grandparents were employed within the formerly thriving fishing industry of Muynak. Her family is still dependent on the Aral Sea, as both her father and her husband work by the sea as Artemia Salina farmers.Tajikistan: An inhabitant of the village Istiklol rests by the river Vakhsh. A greenhouse built along the river uses its water to grow cucumbers. The river Vakhsh flows into the river Amu Darya.Tajikistan: When the construction of the Roghun Dam is completed, planned for 2025, its height will be 335 meters and it will be the highest of its kind.Kazakhstan: A hot spring has emerged on the former bed of the Aral Sea, near Akespe village, and is often visited for healing purposes. Over the years the Aral Sea has lost 90 percent of its waters. Shared by Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, this formerly fourth largest lake in the world began to retreat in 1960s, with the Soviet project of diverting the rivers Syr Darya and Amu Darya to serve the cotton industry.Kyrgyzstan: Sonunbek Kadyrov’s boat serves the village Kyzyl-Beyit, as a taxi. Access to this village’s main road was covered by water over 20 years ago as a dam was built, in a case when inefficient water management heavily complicated people’s movement.Kyrgyzstan: Jaynagul Brjieva, 37, and her family enjoy a rare outing at the Yssy-su hot spring. This is both an opportunity to bathe her children in warm water and to take advantage of its healing qualities, a unique opportunity for people in a region contending with water shortages.
Maika Elan, photographer and photo editor, and 2023 Contest Southeast Asia and Oceania jury chair, said, “At the heart of our selection process was the desire to highlight stories that not only raised awareness of important issues but also provided solutions or a call to action. We sought strong and brave stories that, in the context of our countries, may have been difficult to execute or discuss openly.”
Further, she has this to say about the importance of Kimberly’s entry, specifically: “A […] crucial concern was the drug war in the Philippines, where extrajudicial killings and human rights violations are widespread. Photographs highlighted the human rights violations, and raised important questions about justice and accountability.”
Uzbekistan: The abundant silt in the river Amu Darya, often gives the water a dark red color, an ominous look in the face of its gradual decrease of water levels. This historically important river, formerly known as the Oxus, and its battered waters, are further examples of water security touching every aspect of life in Central Asia.Uzbekistan: Dinara’s family is still dependent on the sea. Both her father and her husband work along its shores as Artemia Salina shrimp farmers, but the sea is now more than 180 kilometers away from their homes in Muynak.
18-year-old Dinara and her younger relative, on Dinara’s wedding day in Muynak, a former sea port in Uzbekistan, on October 27, 2019. Dinara’s grandparents were employed within the formerly thriving fishing industry of Muynak. Her family is still dependent on the Aral Sea, as both her father and her husband work by the sea as Artemia Salina farmers.Tajikistan: An inhabitant of the village Istiklol rests by the river Vakhsh. A greenhouse built along the river uses its water to grow cucumbers. The river Vakhsh flows into the river Amu Darya.Tajikistan: When the construction of the Roghun Dam is completed, planned for 2025, its height will be 335 meters and it will be the highest of its kind.Kazakhstan: A hot spring has emerged on the former bed of the Aral Sea, near Akespe village, and is often visited for healing purposes. Over the years the Aral Sea has lost 90 percent of its waters. Shared by Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, this formerly fourth largest lake in the world began to retreat in 1960s, with the Soviet project of diverting the rivers Syr Darya and Amu Darya to serve the cotton industry.Kyrgyzstan: Sonunbek Kadyrov’s boat serves the village Kyzyl-Beyit, as a taxi. Access to this village’s main road was covered by water over 20 years ago as a dam was built, in a case when inefficient water management heavily complicated people’s movement.Kyrgyzstan: Jaynagul Brjieva, 37, and her family enjoy a rare outing at the Yssy-su hot spring. This is both an opportunity to bathe her children in warm water and to take advantage of its healing qualities, a unique opportunity for people in a region contending with water shortages.
Executive Director of the World Press Photo Foundation Joumana El Zein Khoury said, “Millions of people around the world will look at these photos and see death, despair, loss, and crisis. My wish is that they also see what I see. The hope that through documentation there is a chance of justice and a better future, through remembering we honor what is lost, and through the courage and dedication of these photographers we are inspired.”
DAKILA, this year’s World Press Photo Exhibition local partner in the Philippines, believes in the power of Press Freedom. “…to continue telling the truth amidst blatant censorship and attacks. [For] the Human Rights community to continue defending press freedom and community journalism in telling the truth on the key issues the country faces such as the drug war and gender discrimination,” Floyd Scott Tiogangco, DAKILA Communications Director, said in a statement.
Phnom Penh, Cambodia-January 26th, 2022: Sopha lives in a small cubicle of a room with fellow factory workers in a busy neighborhood not far from her work. She works from 7 to 7 in the evening, collection overtime and has not been to see her children in the province in over 6 months. Her two biological children and one surrogate son are being raised by her mother in the countryside, as she sends money home to support them. She is a victim of domestic abuse and divorced from her husband. She turned to surrogacy to try to buy him out of the house they owned so she could cut ties. Instead she was arrested and has now been ordered by the authorities to raise the surrogate baby she birthed in the military hospital where she had been detained. Up until 2016 surrogacy had been tolerated by Cambodian authorities, yet when Thailand ruled the practice illegal and Cambodia became the next hub for surrogate mothers, the government began to crack down. In 2017 surrogate mothers for the first time, faced criminal charges on human trafficking and in 2018 a house of 32 surrogate mothers was discovered prompting several arrests and imprisonment. The surrogate mothers have been obligated by law to raise the babies most of whose biological parents are thought to be Chinese, straining already impoverished households. Nadia Shira Cohen for The New York TimesPhnom Penh, Cambodia-January 17th, 2022: Chandarayoth Pheap, now 3 cries in his grandmother, Bonan Ky’s arms at his surrogate mother Sreyroth’s home where he is being raised. His grandmother takes care of him while his mother is at work cooking in the garage where her husband works. Up until 2016 surrogacy had been tolerated by Cambodian authorities, yet when Thailand ruled the practice illegal and Cambodia became the next hub for surrogate mothers, the government began to crack down. In 2017, surrogate mothers, for the first time, faced criminal charges on human trafficking, and in 2018, a house of 32 surrogate mothers was discovered, prompting several arrests and imprisonment. The surrogate mothers have been obligated by law to raise the babies most of whose biological parents are thought to be Chinese, straining already impoverished households. Nadia Shira Cohen for The New York TimesKampong Speu, Cambodia-January 15th, 2022: Ry Ly’s surrogate son, Korng who is now 3. Ry Ly, a garment factory worker is also raising a 7 year old daughter. Up until 2016 surrogacy had been tolerated by Cambodian authorities, yet when Thailand ruled the practice illegal and Cambodia became the next hub for surrogate mothers, the government began to crack down. In 2017, surrogate mothers, for the first time, faced criminal charges on human trafficking, and in 2018, a house of 32 surrogate mothers was discovered, prompting several arrests and imprisonment. The surrogate mothers have been obligated by law to raise the babies most of whose biological parents are thought to be Chinese, straining already impoverished households. Nadia Shira Cohen for The New York TimesKampong Speu, Cambodia-January 27th, 2022: A portrait of surrogate mothers Vin Vin and Ry Ly, arrested during the same police blitz in the house they were staying in with their surrogate children Korng (left), Phavit (right). Up until 2016, surrogacy had been tolerated by Cambodian authorities, yet when Thailand ruled the practice illegal, and Cambodia became the next hub for surrogate mothers, the government began to crack down. In 2017 surrogate mothers for the first time, faced criminal charges on human trafficking and in 2018 a house of 32 surrogate mothers was discovered prompting several arrests and imprisonment. The surrogate mothers have been obligated by law to raise the babies most of whose biological parents are thought to be Chinese, straining already impoverished households. Nadia Shira Cohen for The New York TimesNestor and Alma Hilbano watch the evening news on the second death anniversary of their son Richard on September 8, 2019, in Quezon City, Philippines. Richard and three others were killed in a police operation a couple of houses away in 2016 and, at that time, was reported in the news.
The two Filipinas’ stories, alongside the other winners from the global and regional categories, will be shown in an exhibition at the World Press Photo Exhibition 2023 in Manila. The exhibit will run from February 26 to March 17 at The Gallery, 11th Floor, College of Saint Benilde, School of Design and Arts, Metro Manila.
Following the exhibit is a public forum on visual storytellers in narrative building and change-making on February 28 from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm at the 5th Floor Main Auditorium, School of Arts and Design, College of Saint Benilde. At the forefront of this forum are 2023 World Press Winners Hannah Reyes Morales, Kimberly dela Cruz, photographer Ezra Acayan, representatives from the Golden Gays, and families of drug war victims.
Fifteen year old Jazmine Durana cradles her month-old daughter Hazel in the wake of her partner John “Toto” Dela Cruz who was killed by “men in black masks” less than a week ago on February 2, 2017, in Navotas, Philippines. She said she heard the suspects accuse Toto of stealing and using drugs before they shot him four times. Toto was 16 years old.16-year old AJ mourns at the crime scene where his neighbor Antonio Perez has been shot by unidentified assailants on January 3, 2017, outside their shanty in Pasay City in the Philippines. Perez works in the barangay responsible for assisting the police in their operations in communities.Neighbors look inside the aftermath of a crime scene in Mandaluyong in the Philippines on November 1, 2016, hours after Manuel Evangelista, Edmar Velarde, Paulo Tuboro, Jennifer Discargar, and Catalino Algueles were massacred by masked men. Evangelista’s daughter said she was in the house with her father and his friends when the killers barged in, made her leave, and started shooting.
These events are made possible in partnership with DAKILA, College of Saint Benilde-Design and Arts Campus, and the support from the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Philippines.
