Meet the jury of the 2020 Photo Contest

We are pleased to announce the 16 professionals from all around the world who will join Lekgetho Makola, chair of the 2020 Photo Contest jury, to select the winners of the 2020 Photo Contest and award the best photojournalism of 2019.

Entries for our 63rd annual Photo Contest are open for registrations until 9 January and submissions until 14 January 2020! After that, the judging will take place in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, from 20 January to 8 February 2020.

Anna Lena Mehr, director of contests at the World Press Photo Foundation, says:

“We are very enthusiastic about having such an expert and diverse group of individuals to judge the entries of our 2020 Photo Contest. The jury, consisting of nine women and eight men with representation from six continents, comes from various photography backgrounds, allowing a range of approaches in the important task of awarding the best pictures contributing to the past year of visual journalism. We are looking forward to the choices the jury will make this year.”

2020 Photo Contest juries

The judging process for the 2020 Photo Contest involves four specialized juries and a general jury. It takes place in several rounds over a three-week period.

Four independent specialist juries first shortlists entries in eight categories. Each jury has a chair responsible for maintaining the integrity of the process, ensuring the deliberations are conducted in accordance with the highest standards, and that all jury members are fully involved in the judging process. Each jury is assisted by a secretary.

News and Documentary jury

• Chair: Lekgetho Makola, South Africa, head of Market Photo Workshop
• Julieta Escardó, Argentina, photographer, editor, educator
• Emmeline Yong, Singapore, co-founder and director of Objectifs - Centre for Photography and Film
• Michael von Graffenried, Switzerland, photographer and chair of Swiss Press Award
• Fiona Shields, United Kingdom, head of Photography, The Guardian News and Media Group
  
  

Portraits jury

• Chair:  Lucy Conticello, Italy/USA/United Kingdom, director of Photography, M magazine, Le Monde
• Delphine Diallo, France/Senegal, photographer/visual artist
• Dan Winters, USA, photographer
  
  

Nature and Environment jury

• Chair: Sabine Meyer, USA/France, Director of photography, National Audubon Society
• Ian Teh, United Kingdom/Malaysia, photographer for Panos Pictures
• Lars Lindemann, Germany, director of Photography, GEO magazine
  
  

Sports jury

• Chair: Chris McGrath, Australia, photographer for Getty Images
• Jean-Denis Walter, France, founder and head of Gallery Jean-Denis Walter
• Abby Nicolas, USA, photo editor, Sports Illustrated magazine
  
  

An independent general jury consisting of the chairs of the specialist juries, plus three new members, become part of the general jury, who then selects the winners.

General jury

• Lekgetho Makola, South Africa, head of Market Photo Workshop
• Lucy Conticello, Italy/USA/United Kingdom, director of Photography, M magazine, Le Monde
• Sabine Meyer, USA/France, director of Photography, the National Audubon Society
• Chris McGrath, Australia, photographer for Getty Images
• Mariana Bazo, Peru, photojournalist
• Pete Muller, USA, photographer and multimedia producer
• Tanvi Mishra, India, photo editor, curator, and creative director, The Caravan
  
  

Secretaries

• David Griffin, USA, founder and creative director of D Griffin Studio
• Kaat Celis, Belgium, managing director of Sluitertijd and director of AntwerpPhoto
• Loup Langton (secretary trainee), USA, photographer and editor 

Registrations close on 9 January

Registrations for the Photo Contest are open until 9 January, and submissions until 14 January 2020. It is free to enter and open to all professional photojournalists around the world. To highlight diverse stories, the Photo Contest awards single exposure images in eight categories: Contemporary Issues, Environment, General News, Long-Term Projects, Nature, Portraits, Sports, and Spot News. The winners of the headline prizes ‘World Press Photo of the Year’ and ‘World Press Photo Story of the Year’ both receive a cash prize of €10,000.

All the awarded images are showcased to a global audience through our annual exhibition and yearbook. 

Key dates

• 9 January 2020: Photo Contest registration deadline. 12.00 noon CET.
• 14 January 2020: Submission deadline. Contest websites close 12.00 noon CET.
• 16 April 2020: Winners announcement.
• 18 April 2020: Start of the worldwide exhibition tour.

Image credit: Frank van Beek, Hollandse Hoogte