From Fatima Shbair, a photographer based in Gaza City: "Mourners attend the funeral of 11-year-old Layan al-Shaer in Khan Younis, Gaza. Layan died of her wounds after she was injured in Israeli airstrikes while she was on a picnic by the sea with her family this past August. The 11-year-old's grandmother and relatives attend her funeral in this photo. Everyone was waiting silently and anxiously for her body to arrive from the hospital to bid her farewell. At that time, I could not separate myself from what was happening around me. I felt it and had to document it. It was heartbreaking. I have photographed so many funerals, but I never forget the funerals of children."
Fatima Shbair/AP
From Fabiola Ferrero, a photographer based in Bogotá, Colombia, and Caracas, Venezuela: "Venezuelan families depended on oil and saw their lives change when, 20 years ago, over 18,000 people were fired from the oil company (PDVSA) for participating in a strike. Karelis Rivas' father was one of them.
"I photographed Karelis for a project, The Wells Run Dry, which in a way speaks about how Venezuelan population grew older due to migration waves. She decided to stay. Karelis is only one year younger than me, so we both share memories of Venezuela's recent political turmoil. When her father was being fired from the oil company because of the general strike, I was on vacation from school because it was shut down during that same strike. Our realities are connected in their differences."
"I photographed Karelis for a project, The Wells Run Dry, which in a way speaks about how Venezuelan population grew older due to migration waves. She decided to stay. Karelis is only one year younger than me, so we both share memories of Venezuela's recent political turmoil. When her father was being fired from the oil company because of the general strike, I was on vacation from school because it was shut down during that same strike. Our realities are connected in their differences."
Fabiola Ferrero for Fondation Carmignac
From Khadija M. Farah, a photographer based in Nairobi, Kenya: "Asli Duqow stands among the carcasses of her livestock in Wajir, Kenya. Before the drought, she was able to cook her children three meals a day and feed them milk from her livestock. This has now been reduced to one meal a day.
"Asli took us to a spot not far from the main road. I photographed her as she was walking among the animals, naming each one and remembering when they died.
"For much of the year, the drought in East Africa took a backseat to most of the other stories around the world. I made this photo in February and came across many such scenes in northern Kenya and Somalia. At the time it felt like not many people cared, and that was difficult when you're witnessing the devastation firsthand. I am grateful that more stories about the drought are now coming out and that maybe some relief will come because of it."
"Asli took us to a spot not far from the main road. I photographed her as she was walking among the animals, naming each one and remembering when they died.
"For much of the year, the drought in East Africa took a backseat to most of the other stories around the world. I made this photo in February and came across many such scenes in northern Kenya and Somalia. At the time it felt like not many people cared, and that was difficult when you're witnessing the devastation firsthand. I am grateful that more stories about the drought are now coming out and that maybe some relief will come because of it."
Khadija M. Farah for Oxfam
From Stephanie Sinclair, a photographer based in New York's Hudson Valley: "Megan Keeton, 31, sees her daughter for the first time immediately after a cesarean-section delivery. Complications from two earlier pregnancies -- one resulting in a stillbirth, the other in the birth of her daughter, Aryia, now 7, who has spastic quadriplegia cerebral palsy -- led doctors to tell Keeton she should not become pregnant again because of the risks to her health. Just before she was going to make an appointment to get her tubes tied late last year, she found out she was pregnant for a third time. 'I was asked if I wanted to have an abortion, and I said no,' Keeton said.
"The US Supreme Court's decision in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization reversed nearly a half-century of precedent protecting women and girls' rightful access to essential reproductive healthcare. (Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization was a challenge to a 2018 law banning abortion at 15 weeks.) This rollback of reproductive rights is abhorrent to me, both as a woman and mother to a daughter. Pregnancy is already inherently dangerous; putting one's life at risk should only ever be a personal decision."
"The US Supreme Court's decision in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization reversed nearly a half-century of precedent protecting women and girls' rightful access to essential reproductive healthcare. (Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization was a challenge to a 2018 law banning abortion at 15 weeks.) This rollback of reproductive rights is abhorrent to me, both as a woman and mother to a daughter. Pregnancy is already inherently dangerous; putting one's life at risk should only ever be a personal decision."
Stephanie Sinclair for The New York Times
From Irina Werning, a photographer based in Buenos Aires: "Tam is a 23-year-old nonbinary dancer from Bolivia, living in Buenos Aires. I followed Tam's return to Bolivia for the first time since transitioning during lockdown. Tam says: 'Trans nonbinary people exist in Bolivia, South America and the whole wide world. There isn't just one way of being nonbinary; we are all unique, just like human beings. This is me.'
"Bolivia has a rich history and is built on the idea of respecting its ancient cultural traditions. But patriarchal ideas have also silenced women and LGBTQ people for centuries. So it's interesting to see the challenges the younger generations face as they redefine gender while respecting their ancient traditions."
"Bolivia has a rich history and is built on the idea of respecting its ancient cultural traditions. But patriarchal ideas have also silenced women and LGBTQ people for centuries. So it's interesting to see the challenges the younger generations face as they redefine gender while respecting their ancient traditions."
Irina Werning/Pulitzer Center
From Ngadi Smart, a photographer based in London and Abidjan, Ivory Coast: "My sister Mayeni Jones' pregnant belly, with the hands of her husband, Nathan Jones, and their first child, Inigo Jones. Rocco Jones was born just a few weeks later, on April 12, 2022. Inigo was born in 2020, just a few months before our grandmother, the matriarch of our family, passed away. The grief is sometimes intolerable, but the birth of both boys has brought my family lots of joy and continues to do so.
"This year I felt it was important for me to turn the camera on more of my personal life, for the benefit of my own mental health. I love how this photo captures multiple generations, familial love and tender care. These are some of the things that keep us going in moments of darkness."
"This year I felt it was important for me to turn the camera on more of my personal life, for the benefit of my own mental health. I love how this photo captures multiple generations, familial love and tender care. These are some of the things that keep us going in moments of darkness."
Ngadi Smart
From Aline Deschamps, a photographer based in Beirut, Lebanon: "Lucy Turay, a former migrant domestic worker and mother of two, pays a visit to her auntie who takes care of her daughter, Ugyatu. Lucy was trafficked to work in Lebanon and enslaved under the kafala system for two years. After being repatriated to her home country, Sierra Leone, her 3-year-old daughter does not recognize her anymore. Ugyatu was too young to remember her mother before her departure to Lebanon. Since then, she has been living with Lucy's auntie, whom she now considers her mother.
"Human trafficking and the abuse of migrant domestic workers is one of our biggest contemporary tragedies. Not only in the Middle East, but everywhere. This is one of the many family stories that happen to migrant domestic workers stranded in the Middle East, who sacrifice their lives for their children and let them grow up in their absence. What touches me deeply is that when I asked Lucy how she felt about it, she replied: 'I am so grateful that my auntie takes care of my daughter as her own. And one day, when Ugyatu will be older, I will tell her my story.' "
"Human trafficking and the abuse of migrant domestic workers is one of our biggest contemporary tragedies. Not only in the Middle East, but everywhere. This is one of the many family stories that happen to migrant domestic workers stranded in the Middle East, who sacrifice their lives for their children and let them grow up in their absence. What touches me deeply is that when I asked Lucy how she felt about it, she replied: 'I am so grateful that my auntie takes care of my daughter as her own. And one day, when Ugyatu will be older, I will tell her my story.' "
Aline Deschamps
From DeLovie Kwagala, a photographer based in Johannesburg and Uganda: "For the longest time, I have searched for sustainable alternative ways on how to navigate my mental health. As a freelance artist, I've had multiple experiences of getting into therapy and having to quit when I couldn't afford it. I have been practicing somatic embodied movement and sharing through voluntary workshops in schools, queer shelters and communities for a while now. Although movement has always been that thing that has saved me over and over again, I hadn't yet found ways it could be a part of my work.
"Self-portraits are mentally tasking, and as someone used to hiding behind my camera, to be in front of my lens feels like stripping me open and hanging out my insides for all to see. This image represents the vulnerability of bearing the weight of navigating through moments of surrender and solitude, from running from oneself to finally coming to terms with the present and simply allowing oneself to come back home to you."
"Self-portraits are mentally tasking, and as someone used to hiding behind my camera, to be in front of my lens feels like stripping me open and hanging out my insides for all to see. This image represents the vulnerability of bearing the weight of navigating through moments of surrender and solitude, from running from oneself to finally coming to terms with the present and simply allowing oneself to come back home to you."
DeLovie Kwagala
From Hannah Reyes Morales, a photographer based in Manila, Philippines, and Paris: "Constantino de Juan's mother, Remy, is seen touching a photo of Constantino, who was killed at home in Manila, Philippines. De Juan was slain in 2016 during Rodrigo Duterte's so-called war on drugs, which has taken the lives of up to 27,000 Filipinos.
"The de Juan family was handed a death certificate which stated that his death was from natural causes. Years after the first fatalities from the crackdown, the remains of the dead are now being exhumed. 'I'll let the bones speak,' says Dr. Raquel Fortun, a forensic pathologist who examines the bones of exhumed drug war victims and compares her findings to official autopsy reports. Fortun's findings show that de Juan died of homicide.
"This moment resonated with me because as Remy was showing me the photograph of her dead son, she was singing a lullaby for him, which she wanted me to hear: 'Your memory is safe with me/as long as I am living,' she sang."
"The de Juan family was handed a death certificate which stated that his death was from natural causes. Years after the first fatalities from the crackdown, the remains of the dead are now being exhumed. 'I'll let the bones speak,' says Dr. Raquel Fortun, a forensic pathologist who examines the bones of exhumed drug war victims and compares her findings to official autopsy reports. Fortun's findings show that de Juan died of homicide.
"This moment resonated with me because as Remy was showing me the photograph of her dead son, she was singing a lullaby for him, which she wanted me to hear: 'Your memory is safe with me/as long as I am living,' she sang."
Hannah Reyes Morales for NZZ
From Svet Jacqueline, a photographer based in Baltimore: "A young girl and her brother look out the train car window on March 18, 2022, as they head west to Poland. Thousands of Ukrainians, fleeing the war, flooded the Lviv-Holovnyi railway station daily in Lviv, Ukraine.
"It is hard to cover the war in Ukraine and not feel its impact on a personal level. That being said, I was born into a Russian orphanage as the USSR was collapsing and adopted by American parents when I was a baby. While reporting in Kyiv in April, I was told my great-grandmother was born and raised in Kyiv. The understanding of my personal roots has created a deeper connection to the work I have been doing in Ukraine this past year."
"It is hard to cover the war in Ukraine and not feel its impact on a personal level. That being said, I was born into a Russian orphanage as the USSR was collapsing and adopted by American parents when I was a baby. While reporting in Kyiv in April, I was told my great-grandmother was born and raised in Kyiv. The understanding of my personal roots has created a deeper connection to the work I have been doing in Ukraine this past year."
Svet Jacqueline
From Danielle Villasana, a photographer based in Istanbul: "After a heavy rain in Virginia, Kataleya Nativi Baca, a transgender woman from Honduras, walks beneath a rainbow. Since 2018, I've followed Kataleya's tumultuous migration journey: from when she said a relative had beaten her up, fracturing her collarbone, to sleeping on streets of Mexico without a meal to eat. Though she finally made it to Tijuana in late 2019 where she was placed in a queue to seek asylum in the US, only a few months later that door would shut as the border closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
"Despite being thrust into a downward spiral of uncertainty while she waited indefinitely in Mexico -- a country where she also felt unsafe due to discrimination -- she remained resilient and crossed into the US more than one year later. While she's faced similar hurdles here as well, such as transphobia and insecure living and economic situations, Kataleya remains resilient and believes 2023 will be a year of blessings. To me this image represents not only her determination to persevere despite hardship, but also her unfaltering belief that on the other side of a storm, there's triumph."
"Despite being thrust into a downward spiral of uncertainty while she waited indefinitely in Mexico -- a country where she also felt unsafe due to discrimination -- she remained resilient and crossed into the US more than one year later. While she's faced similar hurdles here as well, such as transphobia and insecure living and economic situations, Kataleya remains resilient and believes 2023 will be a year of blessings. To me this image represents not only her determination to persevere despite hardship, but also her unfaltering belief that on the other side of a storm, there's triumph."
Danielle Villasana
From Angelika Kollin, a photographer based in Tampa, Florida: "Nokulunga is a young woman from Cape Town, South Africa, who, like many of her peers in poverty-ridden townships, lives in daily struggle and hardship. In the Xhosa tradition, where name-giving is a significant event involving the entire family, each child gets a name that reflects family wishes. Luntu is Nokulunga's first child, and his name translates into the English word 'humanity.' Luntu's family wants him to grow up and live in a world of equal opportunities and more humane conditions than they experienced.
"I lived in South Africa for six years and know Nokulunga's family well. She wrote to me before my visit in the spring and expressed her wish to be part of my project, 'You Are My Mother.' With Nokulunga, it was notable that in the hour we spent together, she didn't voice anything she wished for herself; all her dreams were for her boy. She has an unshakable belief, a true display of faith, that her son will live in a better world. It is from people like her that I learned the true meaning and depth of human faith."
"I lived in South Africa for six years and know Nokulunga's family well. She wrote to me before my visit in the spring and expressed her wish to be part of my project, 'You Are My Mother.' With Nokulunga, it was notable that in the hour we spent together, she didn't voice anything she wished for herself; all her dreams were for her boy. She has an unshakable belief, a true display of faith, that her son will live in a better world. It is from people like her that I learned the true meaning and depth of human faith."
Angelika Kollin
From Martha Tadesse, a photographer based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: "Mar'eshet plays with his 4-year-old daughter, Edilawit, outside their home in Maksegnit, in Gondar, Ethiopia. I met Sifrash, Mar'eshet's wife, during an assignment on newborn care, and I was able to witness Edilawit's birth.
"There have been several gruesome images of Ethiopia's civil war and conflicts in the past two years. Every day, we woke up to another terrible story and photograph. The Adey Abeba flower in this photograph is native to Ethiopia and blooms in September, just before the Ethiopian New Year begins. The flower represents a new beginning, and yellow is frequently connected with peace.
"It made me so joyful to see this lovely moment between a father and his daughter. As the flower represents new beginnings and peace, I hope we wake up to good news and cheerful stories all around us."
"There have been several gruesome images of Ethiopia's civil war and conflicts in the past two years. Every day, we woke up to another terrible story and photograph. The Adey Abeba flower in this photograph is native to Ethiopia and blooms in September, just before the Ethiopian New Year begins. The flower represents a new beginning, and yellow is frequently connected with peace.
"It made me so joyful to see this lovely moment between a father and his daughter. As the flower represents new beginnings and peace, I hope we wake up to good news and cheerful stories all around us."
Martha Tadesse
