Nominees in the 2018 World Press Photo ContestAlan Taylor The Atlantic , Feb 15 , 2018 The top images being considered to win awards in the 61 st annual World Press Photo Contest ​ have just been released , with the final announcement of the winners coming on April 12 . Jury members selected the nominees in eight categories , including the new environment category , from submissions made by 42 photographers hailing from 22 countries . World Press Photo has been kind enough to allow us to share some of this year ’ s nominees here with you . A warning : some viewers may find some of the images disturbing . 1 . Nominee , World Press Photo of the Year , 2018 . Aisha , age 14 , stands for a portrait in Maiduguri , Borno State , Nigeria on September 21 , 2017 . Aisha was kidnapped by Boko Haram then assigned a suicide - bombing mission . After she was strapped with explosives , she found help instead of blowing herself and others up . # Adam Ferguson / The New York Times 2 . Nominee , World Press Photo of the Year , 2018 . An unidentified young boy who was carried out of the last ISIS - controlled area in the Old City by a man suspected of being a militant is cared for by Iraqi Special Forces soldiers . The soldiers suspected the man had used the boy as a human shield in order to try and escape , as he did not know the child ' s name and claimed he had just found him alone in the street . one of the soldiers agreed to adopt the boy given that they knew nothing about him and he didn ' t speak . # Ivor Prickett / The New York Times 3 . From the series Ich Bin Waldviertel , nominated in the Long Term Projects category . Hannah and Alena are two sisters living in the small village of Merkenbrechts in the Waldviertel , an isolated rural area in Austria between Vienna and the Czech Republic . The story documents summer days around Austria as the girls grow up over the years . # Carla Kogelman 4 . From the series Feeding China , nominated in the Contemporary Issues category . Rapidly rising incomes in China have led to a changing diet and increasing demand for meat , dairy , and processed foods . The food and agricultural industries are under pressure . Here , an international crayfish festival held in Xuyi , China ' s Jiangsu Province . Thousands of people converge on Xuyi County every summer for the annual crayfish - eating festival . # George Steinmetz / National Geographic 5 . From the series Feeding China , nominated in the Contemporary Issues category . COFCO ' s largest chicken facility processes 120 million chickens per year ( today 200 , 000 , pre - holiday periods up to 400 , 000 ) with over 2 , 000 employees working a single eight - hour shift . 90 percent of their chicken is for domestic consumption , and 10 percent for other parts of Asia . All chickens are raised on COFCO farms and fed a mixture of corn , soybean meal , wheat husks , and fish powder . All parts of the chickens are used ; even the chicken fat is used in paint , and the feathers are processed into powder for animal food . The internal organs , feet , and heads are sold for human consumption . # George Steinmetz / National Geographic 6 . Nominee , World Press Photo of the Year , 2018 . José Víctor Salazar Balza , 28 , catches fire amid violent clashes with riot police during a protest against President Nicolas Maduro , in Caracas , Venezuela . ( The photographer later said Balza was recovering : " A few days afterward I saw him on social media , inviting people to continue the protests on the streets . I read he was recovering from his burns . ") # Ronaldo Schemidt / Agence France - Presse 7 . Nominated in the Nature Singles category . Rockhopper penguins live up to their name as they navigate the rugged coastline of Marion Island , a South African Antarctic Territory in the Indian Ocean on April 18 , 2017 . # Thomas P . Peschak 8 . From the series Kid Jockeys , nominated in the Sports Stories category . Child jockeys ( aged five through 10 ) ride bareback , barefoot , and with little protective gear , on small horses , during traditional Maen Jaran horse races , on Sumbawa Island , Indonesia . # Alain Schroeder / Reporters 9 . From the series Kid Jockeys , nominated in the Sports Stories category . After a day of racing , horses are taken for a cooling bath . All the kids in the neighborhood take advantage of the moment to play with the horses in the river . Here a young jockey playfully bonds with his horse outside the serious atmosphere of the racetrack . Child jockeys ride bareback , barefoot , and with little protective gear , on small horses , during traditional Maen Jaran horse races , on Sumbawa Island , Indonesia . # Alain Schroeder / Reporters 10 . From the series Finding Freedom in the Water , nominated in the People Stories category . Kijini Primary School students learn to float , swim , and perform rescues on Tuesday , October 25 , 2016 , in the Indian Ocean off of Mnyuni , Zanzibar . Traditionally , girls in the Zanzibar archipelago are discouraged from learning how to swim . The Panje Project provides opportunities for local women and girls to learn swimming skills in full - length swimsuits , so that they can enter the water without compromising their cultural or religious beliefs . # Anna Boyiazis 11 . From the series Finding Freedom in the Water , nominated in the People Stories category . Swim instructor Chema , 17 , snaps her fingers as she disappears underwater on December 28 , 2016 , in Nungwi , Zanzibar . Traditionally , girls in the Zanzibar archipelago are discouraged from learning how to swim . The Panje Project provides opportunities for local women and girls to learn swimming skills in full - length swimsuits , so that they can enter the water without compromising their cultural or religious beliefs . # Anna Boyiazis 12 . Nominated in the Environment Singles category . A young white rhino , drugged and blindfolded , about to be released in Okavango Delta , Botswana , after its relocation from South Africa for protection from poachers on September 21 , 2017 . # Neil Aldridge 13 . From the series Omo Change , nominated in the Long Term Projects category . The Gibe III dam . At the moment , Gibe III is the highest dam in Central Africa , inaugurated in December 2016 . The Omo Valley region in Ethiopia is an extremely fragile natural environment that is home to approximately 200 , 000 inhabitants of many diverse ethnic groups . This area is changing rapidly as a result of the construction of the Gibe III Dam , which is having a severe environmental and socio - economic impact on the region . # Fausto Podavini 14 . From the series Omo Change , nominated in the Long Term Projects category . Along the shore of the Omo River near the Karo village , children play by jumping in the sand . The Karo village is located in a natural bight of the Omo River . Karos are a small tribe with an estimated population between 1 , 000 and 3 , 000 people , who survived thanks to fishing and farming made possible by the flooding of the Omo River . Currently , the river forest seen in the background has been demolished and replaced by an extensive cotton plantation owned by a foreign private company . Following the construction and commissioning of the Gibe III dam , the flooding of the Omo River has stopped , depriving the Karo population of the possibility of cultivating those products that today they ’ re forced to buy at the market . # Fausto Podavini 15 . From the series The Boys and the Bulls , nominated in the Sports Stories category . Despite the drop in popularity of bullfighting , young boys in Almeria , Spain , continue to learn skills at a local bullfighting school three times a week , and when they are not in the arena continue their efforts on the streets of the city . # Nikolai Linares Larsen 16 . Nominee , World Press Photo of the Year , 2018 . A passerby comforts an injured woman lying on the pavement after Khalid Masood drove his car into pedestrians , killing four in addition to a police officer at Westminster Bridge in London , England , on March 22 , 2017 . The injured woman , Melissa Cochran , an American tourist visiting with her husband , suffered a broken leg and a cut to her head , and returned to the United States after medical treatment . Her husband , Kurt Cochran , was one of the victims killed in the attack . # Toby Melville / Reuters 17 . Nominated in the Sports Singles category . Members of opposing teams , the Up ’ ards and Down ’ ards , grapple for the ball during the historic , annual Royal Shrovetide Football Match in Ashbourne , Derbyshire , UK , on February 28 , 2017 . # Oli Scarff / Agence France - Presse 18 . Nominated in the People Singles category . Djeneta ( right ) has been bedridden and unresponsive for two and a half years and her sister Ibadeta for more than six months , with uppgivenhetssyndrom ( resignation syndrome ) , in Horndal , Sweden , on March 2 , 2017 . It is a condition believed to exist only among refugees in Sweden . # Magnus Wennman / Aftonbladet 19 . Nominee , World Press Photo of the Year , 2018 . Civilians who had remained in west Mosul during the battle to retake the city , lined up for an aid distribution in the Mamun neighborhood on March 15 , 2017 . After months of being trapped in the last remaining ISIS held areas of the city , the people in west Mosul were severely short on food and water . # Ivor Prickett / The New York Times 20 . From the series Hunger Solutions , nominated in the Environment Stories category . Inside one of the biggest greenhouse in the world in the Netherlands , which looks like a render but is an indoor facility that provides optimal growing conditions for lettuce and other leafy greens . Innovative agricultural practice in the Netherlands has reduced dependency on water for key crops as well as dramatically reducing the use of chemical pesticides and antibiotics . " Food Valley , " an expansive cluster of agricultural technology start - ups and experimental farms , hints at possible solutions to the globe ’ s hunger crisis . # Luca Locatelli / National Geographic 21 . From the series Hunger Solutions , nominated in the Environment Stories category . Flying over the Westland in the Netherlands , the most advanced area in the world for agro - farming technology . Furrows of artificial light lend an otherworldly aura to the greenhouse . Climate - controlled farms such as these grow crops around the clock and in every kind of weather . # Luca Locatelli / National Geographic 22 . Nominated in the Contemporary Issues Singles category . Dr . Suporn Watanyusakul shows patient Olivia Thomas her new vagina after gender reassignment surgery at a hospital in Chonburi near Bangkok , Thailand , on February 3 , 2017 . # Giulio Di Sturco 23 . Nominated in the General News Singles category . John Thompson is embraced in St . Anthony Village , Minnesota , after speaking out at a memorial rally for his close friend Philando Castile , two days after police officer Jeronimo Yanez was acquitted of all charges in the shooting of Castile , on June 18 , 2017 . # Richard Tsong - Taatarii Read more 24 . Nominee , World Press Photo of the Year , 2018 . The bodies of Rohingya refugees are laid out after the boat in which they were attempting to flee Myanmar capsized about eight kilometers off Inani Beach , near Cox ' s Bazar , Bangladesh , on September 28 , 2017 . Around 100 people were on the boat before it capsized . There were 17 survivors . # 25 . From the series Warriors Who once Feared Elephants Now Protect Them , nominated in the Nature Stories category . Orphaned and abandoned elephant calves are rehabilitated and returned to the wild at the community - owned Reteti Elephant Sanctuary in northern Kenya . Photographed between September 2016 and February 2017 . # Ami Vitale / National Geographic 26 . From the series Warriors Who once Feared Elephants Now Protect Them , nominated in the Nature Stories category . Orphaned and abandoned elephant calves are rehabilitated and returned to the wild at the community - owned Reteti Elephant Sanctuary in northern Kenya . Photographed between September 2016 and February 2017 . # Ami Vitale / National Geographic 27 . From the series Warriors Who once Feared Elephants Now Protect Them , nominated in the Nature Stories category . Orphaned and abandoned elephant calves are rehabilitated and returned to the wild at the community - owned Reteti Elephant Sanctuary in northern Kenya . Photographed between September 2016 and February 2017 . # Ami Vitale / National Geographic 28 . Nominated in the Spot News Singles category . People are thrown into the air as a car plows into a group of protesters demonstrating against the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville , Virginia , on August 12 , 2017 . The attack killed Heather Heyer and injured 19 others . James Alex Fields Jr . , the alleged driver , was charged with second - degree murder . # Ryan M . Kelly / The Daily Progress 29 . From the series Sacred No More , nominated in the Nature Stories category . Kaoru Amagai may live in a traditional Japanese home , but his lifestyle is far from traditional — he shares his home with three macaques . Kin is the oldest of the monkeys and Mr . Amagai cares for them as he would any child , helping them dress , bathe , or finish their daily yogurt snack . In recent years , the Japanese macaque , best known as the snow monkey , has become habituated to humans . An increasing macaque population in the countryside means the monkeys raid crops to survive ; in cities , macaques are tamed and trained for the entertainment industry . # Jasper Doest 30 . From the series Sacred No More , nominated in the Nature Stories category . At the Utsonomiya ' s Kayabuki Tavern Fuku - chan and Yume - chan , Mr . Otsuka ' s oldest monkeys practice their daily performance . The monkeys have played famous actors and politicians and have appeared on foreign television shows . Following dinner in the tavern , customers have the opportunity to watch the macaques perform tricks on a makeshift stage with the help of a variety of stage props , including homemade paper mâché masks — the Donald Trump mask is the favorite among the visiting tourists . 31 . From the series Rohingya Refugees Flee Into Bangladesh to Escape Ethnic Cleansing , nominated in the General News category . Rohingya refugees carry their belongings as they walk on the Bangladesh side of the Naf River after fleeing Myanmar on October 2 , 2017 , in Cox ' s Bazar , Bangladesh . " Clearance operations " against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar conducted by the Burmese army led to hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing into Bangladesh on foot or by boat . Many died in the attempt . In Bangladesh , refugees were housed in makeshift settlements . Photographed between September 19 and November 2 , 2017 . # Kevin Frayer / Getty Images 32 . From the series Rohingya Refugees Flee Into Bangladesh to Escape Ethnic Cleansing , nominated in the General News category . A Rohingya refugee woman is helped from a boat as she arrives , exhausted , on the Bangladesh side of the Naf River at Shah Porir Dwip after fleeing her village in Myanmar , on October 1 , 2017 , in Cox ' s Bazar , Bangladesh . # Kevin Frayer / Getty Images 33 . From the series Rohingya Refugees Flee Into Bangladesh to Escape Ethnic Cleansing , nominated in the General News category . A Rohingya refugee boy desperate for aid cries as he climbs on a truck distributing aid for a local NGO near the Balukali refugee camp on September 20 , 2017 , in Cox ' s Bazar , Bangladesh . # Kevin Frayer / Getty Images