On Thursday, the World Press Photo of the Year was awarded to a photograph of an 85-year-old Brazilian woman receiving her first embrace in five months from a nurse through a transparent ‘hug curtain,’ which symbolized ‘love and compassion.’ The prestigious award was won for the second time by the Danish photographer who shot the image. The selection of a winning photo depicting the global pandemic was almost unavoidable for a contest covering a year in which the virus killed nearly 3 million people worldwide, including more than 3,60,000 in hard-hit Brazil.
On 5 August, photographer Mads Nissen captured Rosa Luzia Lunardi being hugged by nurse Adriana Silva da Costa Souza at the Viva Bem care home in Sao Paulo.
A clear plastic curtain with yellow edges folded into a shape resembling a pair of butterfly wings, as well as the nurse’s face mask, provide protection.
The image was taken by Nissen for the Panos Pictures agency and the Danish daily Politiken also won first prize in the contest’s General News Singles category. Nissen has also won World Press Photo of the Year in 2015 with an intimate photo of a gay couple in Russia. ‘The main message of this image is empathy. It’s love and compassion,’ Nissen said in a comment released by contest organizers.
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