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Special event

World Press Photo at 70 and 2025 Joop Swart Masterclass presentations

07 November 2025
De Balie, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Celebrating World Press Photo’s 70th anniversary and the future of photojournalism

Join us as we mark World Press Photo’s 70th anniversary with a special event to reflect on our rich legacy and to look ahead at its role in shaping visual storytelling.

This public program invites you to engage with how photographic images communicate and influence understanding, and spark dialogue and reflection. The event will bring together photographers and critical thinkers, and will include the final project presentations of the 2025 Joop Swart Masterclass. The event will take place at De Balie in Amsterdam, with the option to join online via livestream. 

Program

13:00-16:00
World Press Photo at 70: What Have We Done?

The day program will reflect critically on questions such as: How has the organization shaped our collective visual memory? What role do photographers have as custodians of visual history? And what makes a powerful image in the 21st century? Moderated by Ahmet Polat.

13:10 - 13:30
The World Press Photo Effect
By Marco Solaroli, Associate Professor of Sociology of Culture and Communication
How does the annual World Press Photo Contest contribute to shaping public visual culture? Drawing on an ongoing research project on the evolving institutional authority of World Press Photo, this presentation examines how this process operates, providing insights into its significance, limitations, and potential.

13:30 - 14:15
Photographers as Custodians of Our Collective Visual History
With Noelle Théard, Myriam Boulos
As image-makers and storytellers, photographers play a vital role in shaping how we see and remember the world. This panel explores photography’s evolving social function in the 21st century—whether as activism, visibility, or historical record.

14:45 - 15:10 
Home Holds Still
Photographer Talk by Hannah Reyes Morales, photographer and multidisciplinary storyteller

15:15 - 16:30
Rethinking Photography for the 21st Century
Keynote by Fred Ritchin, writer, editor, educator, curator, and software developer. Dean Emeritus of the International Center of Photography (ICP) School.
Photojournalism is at a crossroads. The media that funded it historically is struggling, while AI technologies are eroding consensus reality. Where do visual storytellers go from here? Do images still have the power to cause change? What are the powers and responsibilities of contemporary audiences?

17:00-19:00
2025 Joop Swart Masterclass Presentations

Since 1994, the Joop Swart Masterclass has been a cornerstone of World Press Photo’s commitment to supporting the future of photojournalism and documentary photography. Join the 2025 cohort as they present their works-in-progress developed during the program, under the mentorship of Alejandro León Cannock, Hannah Reyes Morales, Laura El-Tantawy, and Noelle Théard.

Addressing urgent themes – from war and displacement to gender-based violence, racial discrimination, exploitation and corruption, and environmental destruction – their projects form a collective resistance to erasure, telling complex, often overlooked stories from within.

Participants: Ameen Abo Kaseem (Palestine/Syria), Amina Kadous (Egypt), Andrés Pérez (Venezuela), Chiara Wettmann (Germany), Gabriel Ferneini (Lebanon), Imane Djamil (Morocco), Luis Antonio Rojas (Mexico), Maen Hammad (Palestine), Masoumeh Bahrami (Iran), Natthaya Thaidecha (Thailand), Saher Alghorra (Palestine), Sumi Anjuman (Bangladesh), Thero Makepe (Botswana).

Event information

Date and time

Friday 7 November 2025
13:00 - 19.00 CET

Location

Kleine-Gartmanplantsoen 10
1017 RR Amsterdam

Livestreamed online.

Tickets

Full day program (combiticket, 13:00-19:00)
Day Program (13:00-16:30)
Evening Program (17:00-19:00)

Image credits: Maarten Nauw; Hannah Reyes Morales; Maen Hammad.

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