Alain Schroeder, winner of the World Press Photo Nature Award
The Belgian from Liège was awarded not one, but two prizes! Over 4,000 photographers tried their luck.
World Press Photo has been rewarding photojournalists since 1955. This year, Alain Schroeder won two awards: first prize in the 'Nature' category with his photo of the body of an orangutan resting on a surgical drape, and first prize in the 'Nature stories' category for a series of ten photos called Saving Orangutans.
In Indonesia, human activities have forced orangutans to leave their natural habitat, and the species is now highly endangered as a result. Through his photographs, Alain Schroeder gives visibility to this issue and to projects such as the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme (SOCP).
In 2017, the Belgian was elected Travel Photographer of the Year Award (TPOTY) for his series Living for Death and won the Japan Nikon Award for his series of photos on the Rohingya crisis in Burma. In 2018, he was awarded first prize in the 'Sport Stories' category by World Press Photo for his photos of young jockeys on Sumbawa Island in Indonesia.
Alain Schroeder has been a documentary photographer for 40 years and the director of his own photo agency, Reporters, for 20 years. Human beings are constantly evolving; he is particularly fascinated by the different cultures, rituals and customs. In his work, the enigmatic and the unusual are in perfect harmony with the natural environment.