Story at a glance
- World Press Photo announced this year’s winners on Thursday.
- A photo of an 85-year-old Brazilian woman receiving her first embrace in five months from a nurse through a clear “hug curtain” won World Press Photo of the Year.
- Judges analyzed 74,470 photographs by 4,315 photographers before naming winners in eight categories.
A photo of an 85-year-old Brazilian woman receiving her first embrace in five months from a nurse through a clear “hug curtain” amid the coronavirus pandemic was named the World Press Photo of the Year on Thursday.
“This iconic image of COVID-19 memorializes the most extraordinary moment of our lives, everywhere,” Kevin WY Lee, one of the judges, said. “I read vulnerability, loved ones, loss and separation, demise, but, importantly, also survival — all rolled into one graphic image. If you look at the image long enough, you’ll see wings: a symbol of flight and hope.”
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The photo, taken by Mads Nissen, marks the second time the Danish photographer has received the award.
In the image, Rosa Luzia Lunardi is hugged by her nurse, Adriana Silva da Costa Souza, at the Viva Bem nursing home in Sao Paulo on Aug. 5.
“It’s a really, really hard, grim situation and then in that horror, in that suffering, I think this picture also brings some light,” Nissen said at an online awards ceremony.
World Press Photo judges analyzed 74,470 photographs by 4,315 photographers before naming winners in eight categories, including general news, spot news, sports, portraits, nature, long-term projects, environment and contemporary issues.
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