Pulitzer Center Update

Pablo Albarenga Named 2020 Photographer of the Year by World Photography Organisation

On June 8, 2020, the World Photography Organisation announced that Pulitzer Center-grantee Pablo Albarenga was named the Photographer of the Year and winner of the Latin America Professional Award. Along with his award, he has also received a $25,000 cash prize.

The World Photography Organization honored Albarenga for Seeds of Resistance, a body of work that pairs photographs of landscapes and territories in danger from mining and agribusinesses with portraits of the activists fighting to conserve them.

In this project, the main characters in the stories are seen in photographs from above, as though they are laying down their lives for their territory. These photographs were featured in two of Albarenga's Pulitzer Center-supported projects, "Rainforest Defenders Series: Achuar Territory, Ecuador" and "How Young Indigenous, Quilombola, and Riverine People from the Tapajós River Are Becoming Rainforest Defenders."

Created by the World Photography Organisation and sponsored by Sony, the World Photography Awards is one of the world’s largest and prestigious photography competitions, with more than 345,000 images from 203 countries and territories submitted across four competitions in 2020. More than 135,000 images were entered into the Professional competition this year. For a full list of winners, visit the World Photography Organisation's website.