Filipino photo “Wedding in the Flood” among the winners at prestigious World Press Photo Contest
AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands — A collection of wedding photos featuring a stunning shot of a bride standing in front of the flooded Barasoian Church, is named as one of the winning photos at the prestigious World Press Photo (WPP) Contest.
The most prominent photo contest in the world announced the winners Thursday, April 9, 2026 ahead of the awarding of winners and the official opening of the exhibit in a historic church in Amsterdam.
The winning photo essay is one of the winners in the regional category, Asia Pacific and Oceania. It was taken by photographer Aaron Favila of the Associated Press. The most catching among the photos was the “Wedding in the Flood”.
Bride Jamaica Aguilar prepares to enter the flooded Barasoain Church in Malolos, Bulacan, Province in the Philippines for her wedding. The Barasoain Church, a national landmark, is situated in a region where nearly 75% of the population is exposed to flooding hazards. (courtesy World Press Photo)
The story behind the photo
When Typhoon Wipha struck the Philippines in July 2025, floodwaters swallowed the historic Barasoain Church in Malolos, Bulacan. Faced with knee‑deep water and warnings that conditions would worsen, Jade Rick Verdillo and Jamaica Aguilar chose not to postpone their wedding. Images of the couple wading through the flood quickly went viral—both a symbol of love’s persistence and a stark reminder of the region’s escalating climate crisis.
Bulacan, built on a sinking delta, has become increasingly vulnerable as stronger storms, rising seas, ageing drainage systems, and groundwater overuse combine to intensify flooding. What were once rare weather events now threaten nearly 75% of residents each year.
The 2025 floods also ignited political upheaval. Public outrage over missing climate‑adaptation funds—an alleged 1.089 trillion pesos—sparked mass protests known as the “Trillion Peso March.” This project captures not only a couple’s determination on their wedding day but also the broader environmental and political turmoil reshaping the region.
Yasuyoshi Chiba, Asia-Pacific and Oceania jury chair, said “For the Asia-Pacific and Oceania region, we had strong news and untold stories – we selected a balanced set of images. We were looking for photographs that showed what happened in 2025 but were also looking for something extraordinary or unexpected.”
The World Press Photo of the Year and two finalists, selected from the 42 winners, will still be announced on April 23, 2026 at 11:00am CEST online and in person at the press opening of the Contest’s Flagship Exhibition 2026 in Amsterdam.
The WPP said this year’s Contest winners “illuminate the realities we face globally; marked by fracture, urgency and yet an innate resilience. They reveal the global overreach of power, the escalating climate crisis, and the human cost of conflict, while also bringing into focus stories of resistance, rebuilding, recovery, and the quiet, enduring dignity of those who persevere.”
About the photographer behind “Wedding in the Flood”
Aaron Favila is a longtime Associated Press photojournalist based in the Philippines, covering breaking news, disasters, conflict, climate issues, sports, religion, and daily life. He began his career in 1996 with the Manila Bulletin and Tempo, later freelancing for Asiaweek before joining AP in 1998. A journalism graduate of the University of Santo Tomas, he is largely self‑taught in photography.
The winning photographer Aaron Favila (courtesy World Press Photo)
Favila has reported internationally—from the Afghanistan war to floods in Pakistan, the 2018 Indonesia tsunami, unrest in Myanmar, and the aftermath of the Bali bombings—and has covered four Olympic Games. In the Philippines, he has documented major events including Super Typhoon Haiyan, the Marawi siege, the Taal Volcano eruption, the Abu Sayyaf insurgency, Duterte‑era drug war operations, and tensions in the South China Sea.
His work has earned recognition from the World Sports Photography Awards, the Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar, the Philippine National Commission for Culture and the Arts, the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand, and the Yonhap International Press Photo Awards.
