The Pandemic Documented in Photos

“First Embrace.” Rosa Luzia Lunardi (85) is embraced by nurse Adriana Silva da Costa Souza at Viva Bem care home, São Paulo, Brazil.
Credit: Mads Nissen, World Press Photo

Each year the World Press Photo organization holds a contest to find the most powerful images. This year, as to be expected, the winners were photojournalists who documented the pandemic in photos. Mads Nissen took home the top prize with his photo titled “First Embrace.” The powerful photograph captures the first hug that Rosa Luzia Lunardi, a resident in a care home, received in over five months. A plastic “hug curtain” provided physical contact for patients in quarantine.

“The Human Cost of COVID-19.” The body of a suspected coronavirus victim, wrapped in yellow infectious-waste plastic, lies awaiting a body bag in a hospital in Indonesia.
Credit: Joshua Irwandi, World Press Photo

“The Human Cost of COVID-19” by Joshua Irwandi documents the religious cost of the virus. Here, a dead body is wrapped in plastic and sprayed with disinfectant. It will be buried quickly to avoid the spread of the virus. Due to Indonesian government protocols, Muslims were not able to personally wash the bodies of their dead loved ones, a ritual that holds great significance to them.

“COVID-19 Pandemic in France.” A morgue employee transports a coffin from the fifth floor of an apartment block, in the Parisian suburb of Pantin.
Credit: Laurence Geai, World Press Photo

As part of a photojournalism piece, “COVID-19 Pandemic in France,” Laurence Geai captured a worker in a hazmat suit transporting a coffin in a small elevator. Geai’s story covers Paris, France, which was the home of the first case of the coronavirus in Europe on January 24. Lockdown went into effect soon after, and the ICUs and morgues were soon overrun. Places like the refrigeration hall of Paris’ Rungis wholesale food market were turned into makeshift morgues, holding bodies where grocery items were once kept.

Photographers, along with the rest of the world, continue to turn their attention and lenses toward the pandemic. Their art gives us the ability to see what is happening everywhere we can’t be. Given the ongoing travel restrictions due to COVID-19, these photojournalists and their documentation are even more important today.

You can view all of the World Press Photo winners here.