Heba Khamis wins first prize at World Press Photo

Thursday night, at the award ceremony for the World Press Photo of the year 2017 Heba Khamis was announced as the winner of the category Contemporary Issues, series.

Heba Khamis giving a speech after she received her prize
at the World Press Photo award ceremony. Photo: Søren Pagter.

Heba Khamis (Egypt) won with her story Banned Beauty, which she started in the fall 2016 as her final Diploma Project at DMJX. In 2017 Heba Khamis went back to Cameroun follow up on the story.

With the prize Heba Khamis becomes the first female Egyptian photojournalist ever to win at the World Press Photo. And the previous two Egyptian winners have won with stories from Egypt, whereas Heba Khamis win with a story from abroad.

Heba Khamis is only the second DMJX-student to win a World Press Photo prize with a school-project and the first one to receive a first prize.

Heba Khamis by one of the pictures from her prize winning story.
Photo: Søren Pagter.

Banned Beauty is the story about breast ironing in Cameroun – a tradition where the mothers protect their daughters against early marriage or sexual assault by flattening their girls’ breasts.

Saturday at the World Press Photo Festival Heba Khamis will show and talk about her project.

The World Press Photo exhibition will be shown in 45 countries within the following year and reach around 4 million people.

In her speech at the World Press Photo award ceremony
Heba Khamis remembered her father,

who died, while she was away working on the story.
Photo: Søren Pagter.