Yasuyoshi Chiba's image "shows the power of youth, it shows the power of art. It shows hope," according to Tanvi Mishra, one of the judges on this year's World Press Photo Award.
Taken on 19 June last year in Khartoum, Chiba's photograph shows a group of residents in the Sudanese capital chanting slogans while one man recites protest poetry.
"This moment was the only peaceful group protest I encountered during my stay and I felt touched by the undefeated solidarity of their revolution," Chiba told Agence France Presse.
“This moment was the only peaceful group protest I encountered during my stay. I felt their undefeated solidarity like burning embers that remain to flare up again.” - Yasuyoshi Chiba, World Press Photo of the Year winner. Learn more about the image: https://t.co/j7Jiur7KJC pic.twitter.com/ubB0clGn7y
— World Press Photo (@WorldPressPhoto) April 16, 2020
The picture "showed that the people still had this passion inside and I felt part of it. I saw how the strong will of the people was there and that it could not be put out by violence," the 48-year-old Japanese photojournalist added.
Protests continued in the aftermath of the overthrow of long-time president Omar al-Bashir in April last year. A military government then took power but citizens demanded a return to civilian rule, with a power-sharing agreement finally being reached in August 2019.
Romain Laurendeau, a French photographer, won the World Press Photo Story Award for his monochrome portrayal of the situation facing Algeria's frustrated youth.
(with AFP)
