Srinagar, 20 April (KNB): Reuters photographer Mohammed Salem was awarded this year’s prestigious World Press Photo of the Year on Thursday for his poignant depiction of loss and sorrow in Gaza.
The heartrending photo captures a Palestinian woman, 36-year-old Inas Abu Maamar, cradling the lifeless body of her young niece, five-year-old Saly. Saly, along with her mother and sister was killed when an Israeli missile struck their home in Khan Younis.
The photograph, taken just days after Salem’s own child was born, illustrates the profound tragedy that unfolded in Gaza. Salem, who is Palestinian, described the photo, filed on November 2 last year, as “a powerful and sad moment that sums up the broader sense of what was happening in the Gaza Strip.”
Fiona Shields, the global jury chair and The Guardian newspaper’s head of photography, commented on the image’s significance: “It truly encapsulates this sense of impact. It is incredibly moving to view and at the same time an argument for peace, which is extremely powerful when peace can sometimes feel like an unlikely fantasy.”
The World Press Photo jury praised the shot’s sense of care and respect, highlighting its offering of a “metaphorical and literal glimpse into unimaginable loss.”
This is not the first time Salem has been recognized for his work on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He received a World Press Photo award more than a decade ago for another depiction of the human toll of conflict in the Gaza Strip.
World Press Photo is an independent, nonprofit organization based in the Netherlands, founded in 1955. -KNB
Source: (AP)