Illegal immigration across the US-Mexican border gets a very human face in John Moore's heart-wrenching photo
A photograph of a crying child has been announced as the overall winner of the World Press Photo of the Year awards. The winning photographer John Moore, who works for the Getty photo agency, received his award from Prince Constantijn of The Netherlands at a ceremony in Amsterdam last night.
The American pro's winning picture graphically depicts the moment that Honduran toddler her mother, Sandra Sanchez, are taken into custody by US border officials in McAllen, Texas, USA.
Immigrant families had rafted across the Rio Grande from Mexico and were then detained by US authorities. Sandra Sanchez said that she and her daughter had been traveling for a month through Central America and Mexico before reaching the US to seek asylum.
The Trump Administration had announced a ‘zero tolerance’ policy at the border under which immigrants caught entering the US could be criminally prosecuted. As a result, many apprehended parents were separated from their children, often sent to different detention facilities.
After this picture was published worldwide, US Customs and Border Protection confirmed that Yanela and her mother had not been among the thousands who had been separated by US officials. Nevertheless, public outcry over the controversial practice resulted in President Donald Trump reversing the policy on 20 June.
The photograph was taken last June with a Canon EOS 1DX Mark II with a 35mm lens. The exposure was 1/100sec at f/3.5 at ISO2500.
World Press Photo of the Year winner John Moore receives his award from HRH Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands, World Press Photo Foundation’s patron, at the Awards Show in Amsterdam (Image credit: Frank van Beek / Hollandse Hoogte)
John Moore is a senior staff photographer and special correspondent for Getty Images. He has photographed in 65 countries on six continents and was posted internationally for 17 years to Nicaragua, India, South Africa, Mexico, Egypt and Pakistan. Since returning to the US in 2008 he has since focused on immigration and border issues.
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Moore has won several top awards throughout his career, including the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography.
Chris George has worked on Digital Camera World since its launch in 2017. He has been writing about photography, mobile phones, video making and technology for over 30 years – and has edited numerous magazines including PhotoPlus, N-Photo, Digital Camera, Video Camera, and Professional Photography.
His first serious camera was the iconic Olympus OM10, with which he won the title of Young Photographer of the Year - long before the advent of autofocus and memory cards. Today he uses a Nikon D800, a Fujifilm X-T1, a Sony A7, and his iPhone 15 Pro Max.
He has written about technology for countless publications and websites including The Sunday Times Magazine, The Daily Telegraph, Dorling Kindersley, What Cellphone, T3 and Techradar.
