Quebec documentary photographer Charles-Frédérick Ouellet, member of the North and Central America jury

for the 70th anniversary of World Press Photo in Amsterdam

World Press Photo Montreal exhibition will be back at Bonsecours Market

from August 27 to October 13, 2025

Montreal, March 27, 2025 – World Press Photo Foundation announces today the regional winners of the World Press Photo 2025 contest. Documentary Photographer Charles-Frédérick Ouellet, winner for the North America region in 2024, is this year’s jury member for the North and Central America region. Presented from August 27 to October 13, 2025 at the Bonsecours Market in Old Montreal, the World Press Photo Montreal Exhibition is one of the most popular in the world.

This year, the awarded photographs were selected from 59,320 entries received from 3,778 photographers from 141 countries. Quebec documentary photographer Charles-Frédérick Ouellet, 2024 Winner, was one of the members of the jury rewarding the best photos in the North and Central America region.

“We made our choices with an eye on the final mix. As much as the World Press Photo Contest award is an immense recognition for photographers, often working under difficult circumstances, it is also a recap of the world’s major events, however incomplete. As a jury we were looking for pictures that people can start conversations around.” declared Global jury chair, Lucy Conticello, Director of Photography for M, Le Monde’s weekend magazine

“These images bear witness to the beating of our world, its weaknesses, its malaise, but also its vitality. We must read them as an X-ray of our species, with the attention they demand, because they reveal what we often choose to ignore.” added Charles-Frédérick Ouellet, Jury Member North and Central America, 2024 Winner North and Central America region with A Day in the Life of a Quebec Fire Crew for The Globe and Mail, CALQ

Key themes this year range from politics, and gender, and migration, to conflict, and the climate crisis. Images of protests and uprisings in Kenya, Myanmar, Haiti, El Salvador and Georgia, sit alongside unexpected portraits of those in political power in the USA and Germany.

Category Winners and the 2025 World Press Photo of the Year will be announced April 17.

World Press photo celebrates its 70th anniversary

The 2025 Contest takes place as part of the 70th anniversary celebrations for World Press Photo – providing an opportunity to view these stories in a historical perspective especially now that the contest has been increasingly globally representative in recent years thanks to the regional contest model. Gathered from across 2024’s fast changing political and media landscape, the photos invite viewers to step outside the news cycle and show the power of authentic photojournalism and documentary photography – offering space for reflection in times of urgency through visual excellence and dedication to accuracy.

“The world is not the same as it was in 1955 when World Press Photo was founded. We live in a time when it is easier than ever to look away, to scroll past, to disengage. But these images do not let us do that. They cut through the noise, forcing us to acknowledge what is unfolding, even when it is uncomfortable, even when it makes us question the world we live in – and our own role within it.” said Executive Director World Press Photo, Joumana El Zein Khoury

About the World Press Photo Foundation

World Press Photo is an independent non-profit organization that champions the power of photojournalism and documentary photography to deepen understanding, promote dialog, and inspire action. Founded in the Netherlands in 1955, our annual and thematic exhibitions reach millions of people in over 80 locations world-wide each year, and our online work reaches millions more. We create space for reflection in times of urgency, while upholding standards of accuracy, authenticity, visual excellence, and diverse perspectives. Our education programs help photographers reach these standards, and members of the public recognize them.

The Foundation is thankful for the support of its funders, particularly its strategic partners the Dutch Postcode Lottery, PwC, and FUJIFILM Corporation.

About World Press Photo Montréal Expo

The World Press Photo Montreal Exhibition is a major cultural event held each year at the Bonsecours Market in Old Montreal. In addition to World Press Photo’s winning images, several related exhibitions produced by the Montreal team highlight the diversity and creativity of local talent. Radio-Canada, La Presse and SDC Vieux-Montréal support the success of this exhibition.

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Press materials available here

Media contacts :

Mélanie Mingotaud – Melanie@mingo2.ca – 514 582-5272

Juliette Tison – juliette@mingo2.ca – 438 468 7817