@worldpressphoto

Can stories focus on solutions as well as problems?⁣ ⁣ One of the themes that we commonly see in the World Press Photo Contest, is the ongoing climate crisis. ‘Saving Forests with Fire’ by Matthew Abbott (@mattabbottphoto) addresses the increase of wildfires but from a perspective that offers solutions to the problem.⁣ ⁣ Indigenous Australians strategically burn land in a practice known as cool burning, in which fires move slowly, burn only the undergrowth, and remove the build-up of fuel that feeds bigger blazes. The Nawarddeken people of West Arnhem Land, Australia, have been practicing controlled cool burns for tens of thousands of years and see fire as a tool to manage their 1.39 million hectare homeland. Warddeken rangers combine traditional knowledge with contemporary technologies to prevent wildfires, thereby decreasing climate-heating CO2. See the first comment for individual captions.⁣ ⁣ The series can be considered an example of visual journalism with a solutions approach, documenting situations where people are already taking action to deal with difficult issues.⁣ ⁣ —⁣ How does this series differ from other images you have seen about the climate crisis? Let us know in the comments.⁣ ⁣ The 2022 edition of See the Story, our learning publication, is now available! Find out more about how visual stories are made and explore important questions for visual storytelling. Get your free copy through the link in our bio.

Does it matter who takes the photograph?⁣ ⁣ In this photo by Fatima Shbair (@fatimashbair), we see Palestinian children gathering together with candles after participating in a children-led protest against attacks on Gaza during a fragile ceasefire following an 11-day conflict between Hamas and Israel on 25 May 2021.⁣ ⁣ Shabair is a Palestinian photojournalist born and raised in Gaza, and was nine years old when the blockade of the city began in 2006. Her proximity to the community and her experiences growing up in Gaza play an important role in how she documents the conflict. While traditionally, photojournalists may view issues from the outside in, Shbair bears witness to the community’s struggles from within, portraying how she and other Palestinian children are affected by the ongoing conflict through a quiet and intimate moment.⁣ ⁣ Photographers from Europe and North America have historically dominated the photojournalism industry which has resulted in an imbalance in representation amongst entrants in the World Press Photo Contest. Local photographers can provide us with an in-depth understanding of the culture and the people photographed and therefore with fair, accurate, and compelling insights into the stories they are covering.⁣ ⁣ –⁣ How do you think background information about a photographer influences the way you understand a story? Let us know in the comments.⁣ ⁣ The 2022 edition of See the Story, our learning publication, is now available! Find out more about how visual stories are made and explore important questions for visual storytelling. Get your free copy through the link in our bio.

How does the presence of fake news affect the trust of audiences in⁣ the media?⁣ ⁣ ‘The Book of Veles’ by Jonas Benediksen (@jonasbendiksen) was published in April 2021 as a documentary project on the production of fake news in Veles, a provincial North Macedonian town which placed itself on the world map in 2016 as an epicenter for fake news production. Six months after its publication, Bendiksen revealed the project itself was a forgery – all the people portrayed are computer-generated 3D models, and all text was written by an AI. See the first comment for individual captions.⁣ ⁣ This project, awarded in the Open-Format category of the #WPPh2022 Contest questions the ease at which fake news can be produced, circulated and believed. In the process of discerning fact from fiction, both journalists and audiences have a responsibility in the production and distribution of reliable news. By convincing everyone about the truthfulness of his project, Benediksen showed that the industry and consumers are equally responsible in the production of reliable news in an age of misinformation.⁣ ⁣ –⁣ What does a project like this say about our understanding of⁣ photography as documentation or evidence? Let us know in the comments.⁣ ⁣ The 2022 edition of See the Story, our learning publication, is now available! Find out more about how visual stories are made and explore important questions for visual storytelling. Get your free copy through the link in our bio.

How can complex issues be photographed?⁣ ⁣ ‘Amazonian Dystopia’ by Lalo de Almeida (@lalodealmeida) documented between 2013 and 2021, sheds light on the variety of consequences that the exploitation of the Amazon has had in recent years (see the first comment for individual captions).⁣ ⁣ Long-term projects are shot in a minimum of three years, which allows photographers to capture the multiple layers and dimensions behind complex issues.⁣ ⁣ The threat that the Amazon is facing has environmental, economic, social, and political ramifications. Pollution from gold mining and soil erosion following deforestation have led to uncontrollable wildfires which have pushed indigenous communities away from their territories and damaged their soil, making them more dependent on industrialized food. At the same time, workers arriving in the Amazon for employment on infrastructure projects has led to an increase in illegal activities, violence, and a strain on resources in towns. Overall this project shows that complex issues need to be studied and documented for long periods of time in order to paint an accurate and complete picture of such situations.⁣ ⁣ –⁣ In what other ways can complex issues be photographed? Let us know in the comments.⁣ ⁣ The 2022 edition of See the Story, our learning publication, is now available! Find out more about how visual stories are made and explore important questions for visual storytelling. Get your free copy through the link in our bio.

Udhayan, a 20-year-old tusker was born in 1998 at the Mudumalai Elephant Camp in Tamil Nadu, South India. 13 April 2018. The Kurumba community take a long time to tame and train the wild elephants, eventually earning their trust and build a relationship of respect.⁣ ⁣ From ‘Tamed Tuskers’ by Senthil Kumaran (@senthilphotography).⁣ ⁣ Over the last 20 years, India has lost 1.5 million hectares of forest vegetation due to urban development, according to Asia Times. Historic elephant migration routes have been lost as a result of anthropogenic pressure around their habitats. Human-mediated activities have encroached on more than 80% of elephant corridors, forcing them to traverse human-dominated environments. Conflict arises from such physical rapprochement, including crop devastation, homes being destroyed, and the accidental killing of people.⁣ ⁣ Senthil Kumaran is a documentary photographer and @natgeo explorer from Madurai, South India. His long-term project ‘Boundaries: Human-Tiger Conflict’ was awarded in the #WPPh2022 Contest. Follow the link in our bio to discover his awarded work.

Kaleem, a 54-year-old kumki elephant was captured in 1972 in Coimbatore, India. Kumki elephants are specialists in handling conflict situations. They are trained to negotiate with wild elephants when a conflict arises and assist in rescue too. Kaleem made almost 60 successful operations in various conflict zones.⁣ ⁣ From ‘Tamed Tuskers’ by Senthil Kumaran (@senthilphotography).⁣ ⁣ Over the last 20 years, India has lost 1.5 million hectares of forest vegetation due to urban development, according to Asia Times. Historic elephant migration routes have been lost as a result of anthropogenic pressure around their habitats. Human-mediated activities have encroached on more than 80% of elephant corridors, forcing them to traverse human-dominated environments. Conflict arises from such physical rapprochement, including crop devastation, homes being destroyed, and the accidental killing of people.⁣ ⁣ Senthil Kumaran is a documentary photographer and @natgeo explorer from Madurai, South India. His long-term project ‘Boundaries: Human-Tiger Conflict’ was awarded in the #WPPh2022 Contest. Follow the link in our bio to discover his awarded work.

Moorthy, a 55-year-old Makna elephant, was captured from a conflict zone in 1998 and brought to the Mudumalai Elephant Camp in Tamil Nadu, South India.⁣ 12 April 2018. ⁣ 20 years earlier, Moorthy entered into the human habitat and killed 23 people. In response, forest officials issued an order for him to be shot, however state authorities banned any harm to the elephant. The elephant was captured and trained in the camp by the Kurumba community. After one year of treatment and training, Moorthy became one of the camp's calmest elephants.⁣ ⁣ From ‘Tamed Tuskers’ by Senthil Kumaran (@senthilphotography).⁣ ⁣ Over the last 20 years, India has lost 1.5 million hectares of forest vegetation due to urban development, according to Asia Times. Historic elephant migration routes have been lost as a result of anthropogenic pressure around their habitats. Human-mediated activities have encroached on more than 80% of elephant corridors, forcing them to traverse human-dominated environments. Conflict arises from such physical rapprochement, including crop devastation, homes being destroyed, and the accidental killing of people.⁣ ⁣ Senthil Kumaran is a documentary photographer and @natgeo explorer from Madurai, South India. His long-term project ‘Boundaries: Human-Tiger Conflict’ was awarded in the #WPPh2022 Contest. Follow the link in our bio to discover his awarded work.

Wasim is a 41-year-old tusker elephant born at the Mudhumalai Elephant Camp in Tamil, Nadu, South India. 16 June 2016. The Kurumba community takes a long time to tame and train the wild elephants, eventually earning their trust and building a relationship of respect.⁣ ⁣ The elephants have increasingly become victims of poisoning and illegally fenced electrocuted power cables placed in migration corridors to avoid their invasion. In the last 10 years, around 630 elephants lost their lives due to electrocution and in the last five years, approximately 2300 people have died from elephant attacks. To mitigate the issues, the government captures and translocates the problematic wild elephants to the taming camps where men from the Kurumba community help to tame these elephants using traditional techniques.⁣ ⁣ From ‘Tamed Tuskers’ by Senthil Kumaran (@senthilphotography).⁣ ⁣ Over the last 20 years, India has lost 1.5 million hectares of forest vegetation due to urban development, according to Asia Times. Historic elephant migration routes have been lost as a result of anthropogenic pressure around their habitats. Human-mediated activities have encroached on more than 80% of elephant corridors, forcing them to traverse human-dominated environments. Conflict arises from such physical rapprochement, including crop devastation, homes being destroyed, and the accidental killing of people.⁣ ⁣ Senthil Kumaran is a documentary photographer and @natgeo explorer from Madurai, South India. His long-term project ‘Boundaries: Human-Tiger Conflict’ was awarded in the #WPPh2022 Contest. Follow the link in our bio to discover his awarded work.

Jambu, a tamed elephant, bathes in the Moyar river in the Mudumalai Elephant Camp, Tamil, Nadu, South India, on 24 December 2016. Water massaging is a traditional taming method used by the Kuruma communities of Western India, who spend up to six hours a day massaging elephants and bonding with them before returning them to camp to be fed.⁣ ⁣ From ‘Tamed Tuskers’ by Senthil Kumaran (@senthilphotography).⁣ ⁣ Over the last 20 years, India has lost 1.5 million hectares of forest vegetation due to urban development, according to Asia Times. Historic elephant migration routes have been lost as a result of anthropogenic pressure around their habitats. Human-mediated activities have encroached on more than 80% of elephant corridors, forcing them to traverse human-dominated environments. Conflict arises from such physical rapprochement, including crop devastation, homes being destroyed, and the accidental killing of people.⁣ ⁣ Primarily inhabiting the Western Ghats of Southern India, the Kurumba communities have nurtured their relationships with elephants for centuries. Tusker elephants, also known as Kumkis, are skilled at leading other wild elephants that have strayed into human habitation, back into the wild. Through their work, the Kurumbas have ensured a reduction in human-elephant conflict situations and poaching.⁣ ⁣ Senthil Kumaran is a documentary photographer and @natgeo explorer from Madurai, South India. His long-term project ‘Boundaries: Human-Tiger Conflict’ was awarded in the #WPPh2022 Contest. Follow the link in our bio to discover his awarded work.

1. Distressed residents of the village of Ooty, near the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, in Tamil Nadu, India, gather during an operation to capture a tiger that had recently killed a fellow villager on 12 January 2014.⁣ ⁣ 2. The track running out of the village of Kutvanda, a high human-animal conflict zone in the Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve, in Maharashtra, India on 12 October 2015.⁣ ⁣ From ‘Boundaries: Human-Tiger Conflict’ by Senthil Kumaran (@senthilphotography), awarded in the Long-Term Projects category of the #WPPh2022 Contest.⁣ ⁣ The 2022 global jury said this about the project: “The visual language of loose, blurry frames conveys movement and the urgency of survival for both humans and tigers in the wake of regional environmental change.”⁣ ⁣ In India, Bengal tigers (Panthera tigris tigris) are considered endangered, with up to 3,000 surviving in the wild. Human settlement, cultivation, and urban development are encroaching on tigers’ natural habitat and reducing their prey base. Villages on the perimeters of tiger sanctuaries and reserves are often home to Indigenous communities, who depend on livestock, farming, or the forest for their livelihoods. Conflict arises when tigers kill livestock and occasionally humans, which although rare, usually occurs when angry groups surround tigers who have entered settlements.⁣ ⁣ Senthil Kumaran is a documentary photographer and @natgeo explorer from Madurai, South India. He has been working with conservationists, forest officials, and local villagers for the past ten years, to understand and document the various dimensions of human-tiger conflict. Follow the link in our bio to discover his work.

Residents of a village near the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, in Tamil Nadu, India, place the body of a man killed by a tiger before the forest office, to⁣ protest and demand that officials shoot the tiger, on 2 October 2021.⁣ ⁣ In India, Bengal tigers (Panthera tigris tigris) are considered endangered, with up to 3,000 surviving in the wild. Human settlement, cultivation, and urban development are encroaching on tigers’ natural habitat and reducing their prey base. Villages on the perimeters of tiger sanctuaries and reserves are often home to Indigenous communities, who depend on livestock, farming, or the forest for their livelihoods. Conflict arises when tigers kill livestock and occasionally humans, which although rare, usually occurs when angry groups surround tigers who have entered settlements.⁣ ⁣ From ‘Boundaries: Human-Tiger Conflict’ by Senthil Kumaran (@senthilphotography), awarded in the Long-Term Projects category of the #WPPh2022 Contest.⁣ ⁣ Senthil Kumaran is a documentary photographer and @natgeo explorer from Madurai, South India. He has been working with conservationists, forest officials, and local villagers for the past ten years, to understand and document the various dimensions of human-tiger conflict. Follow the link in our bio to discover his work.

An aerial view of the Anamalai Tiger Reserve, Tamil Nadu, India on 22 November 2019, a high human-animal conflict zone. Large areas of the natural forest have been cut down to make way for tea and coffee plantations.⁣ ⁣ The photographer said: “The main cause of this issue is deforestation. Every commodity we use has been obtained by destroying nature only. Without reducing our overconsumption culture, we cannot eradicate the problems of the forest animals and the tribes living there. The main reason for the human-animal conflict is because of the globalization and overconsumption culture of urban people.”⁣ ⁣ From ‘Boundaries: Human-Tiger Conflict’ by Senthil Kumaran (@senthilphotography), awarded in the Long-Term Projects category of the #WPPh2022 Contest.⁣ ⁣ In India, Bengal tigers (Panthera tigris tigris) are considered endangered, with up to 3,000 surviving in the wild. Human settlement, cultivation, and urban development are encroaching on tigers’ natural habitat and reducing their prey base. Villages on the perimeters of tiger sanctuaries and reserves are often home to Indigenous communities, who depend on livestock, farming, or the forest for their livelihoods. Conflict arises when tigers kill livestock and occasionally humans, which although rare, usually occurs when angry groups surround tigers who have entered settlements.⁣ ⁣ Senthil Kumaran is a documentary photographer and @natgeo explorer from Madurai, South India. He has been working with conservationists, forest officials, and local villagers for the past ten years, to understand and document the various dimensions of human-tiger conflict. Follow the link in our bio to discover his work.