From Gaza to Vietnam, what is the value of a photo?

Two maimed children, two iconic images – and no end to barbarity in sight.

Mahmoud Ajjour, nine (left), who was injured during an Israeli attack on Gaza City in March 2024, finds refuge and medical help in Doha, Qatar, on June 28, 2024 [Samar Abu Elouf, for The New York Times] Kim Phuc, nine (right) is seen running down Route 1 near Trang Bang after a South Vietnamese plane accidentally dropped its flaming napalm on its own troops and civilians, on June 8, 1972. The terrified girl ripped off her burning clothes while fleeing [Nick Ut/AP]

This month, Palestinian photographer Samar Abu Elouf won the 2025 World Press Photo of the Year award for her image titled Mahmoud Ajjour, Aged Nine, taken last year for The New York Times.

Ajjour had both of his arms blown off by an Israeli strike on the Gaza Strip, where Israel’s ongoing genocide has now killed at least 52,365 Palestinians since October 2023. In the award-winning photograph, the boy’s head and armless torso are cast in partial shadow, his gaze nevertheless intense in its emptiness.

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