Kho, the Genesis of a Revolt World Press Photo Story of the Year

Romain Laurendeau won the World Press Photo Story of the Year 2020

Words by

World Press Photo

© Romain Laurendeau | Ultra fans sing during a football match in the 5 July 1962 Stadium in Algiers, Algeria, on 22 December 2015. After street demonstrations were banned in 2001, football stadiums became places where youth could protest through song.

The French photographer Romain Laurendeau from Toulouse won the World Press Photo Story of the Year 2020 with his story Kho, the Genesis of a Revolt about the revolt of young people in Algeria.

© Romain Laurendeau, World Press Story of the Year | Friends relax and watch television in their diki, a private space they have created in a converted storeroom, in Bab el-Oued, Algiers, Algeria, on 6 December 2016.

Romain Laurendeau | A young man gathers an audience as he experiments with a trumpet in the crowded ‘Climat de France’ quarter of Bab el-Oued, Algiers, Algeria, on 8 December 2014. Nobody knows how to play the instrument, but it generates widespread enthusiasm.

Young people make up more than half of Algeria’s population, and according to a UNESCO report 72% of people under 30 in Algeria are unemployed. Pivotal moments in Algerian history, such as the ‘Black October’ revolt of 1988, have had angry youth at their core. Black October was harshly suppressed—more than 500 people were killed in five days—and was followed by a ‘black decade’ of violence and unrest. Thirty years on, the effects of that decade are still present. In a traumatized country, high unemployment leads to boredom and frustration in everyday life and many young people feel disconnected from the state and its institutions. Football, for many young men, becomes both an identity and a means of escape, with quasi-political groups of fans known as ‘Ultras’ playing a large and sometimes violent role in protests. In neglected working-class neighborhoods such as Bab el-Oued in Algiers, young people often seek refuge in diki—private places that are ‘bubbles of freedom’ away from the gaze of society and from conservative social values. But the sense of community and solidarity is often not enough to erase the trials of poor living conditions. In February 2019, thousands of young people from working-class neighborhoods again took to the streets in what became a nationwide challenge to the reign of long-time president Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

© Romain Laurendeau, World Press Photo of the Year | A young couple challenges a taboo as they kiss in a public space in Algiers, Algeria, on 8 December 2016.


Kho (the word means ‘brother’ in colloquial North-African Arabic) is about the genesis of a revolt. It is the story of the deep unease of youth, who, by daring to challenge authority, inspired the rest of the population to join their action, giving birth to the largest protest movement in Algeria in decades.

Romain Laurendeau trained in photography at ETPA in Toulouse, France and has worked on long term projects as a professional photographer in France, Senegal, Algeria and Palestinian territories and Israel. Laurendeau was diagnosed with Keratoconus, a progressive eye disease that distorts the cornea. During these years of illness, he explored intimacy through the introspective series, ‘When Darkness is Falling’.  After a corneal transplant in 2009, he decided to travel extensively to document the human condition in all of its social, economic and political aspects. For more than five years, he worked on sharing stories of young people in Algiers, Algeria. The work documents many of the underlying reasons for the protests happening in Algeria. Laurendeau then began a project on the use and trade of drugs in the Palestinian territories and Israel; a phenomenon common to both regions with populations suffering from the full force of conflict.

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Kho, the Genesis of a Revolt World Press Photo Story of the Year

Romain Laurendeau won the World Press Photo Story of the Year 2020

Words by

World Press Photo

Romain Laurendeau won the World Press Photo Story of the Year 2020
© Romain Laurendeau | Ultra fans sing during a football match in the 5 July 1962 Stadium in Algiers, Algeria, on 22 December 2015. After street demonstrations were banned in 2001, football stadiums became places where youth could protest through song.

The French photographer Romain Laurendeau from Toulouse won the World Press Photo Story of the Year 2020 with his story Kho, the Genesis of a Revolt about the revolt of young people in Algeria.

© Romain Laurendeau, World Press Story of the Year | Friends relax and watch television in their diki, a private space they have created in a converted storeroom, in Bab el-Oued, Algiers, Algeria, on 6 December 2016.

Romain Laurendeau | A young man gathers an audience as he experiments with a trumpet in the crowded ‘Climat de France’ quarter of Bab el-Oued, Algiers, Algeria, on 8 December 2014. Nobody knows how to play the instrument, but it generates widespread enthusiasm.

Young people make up more than half of Algeria’s population, and according to a UNESCO report 72% of people under 30 in Algeria are unemployed. Pivotal moments in Algerian history, such as the ‘Black October’ revolt of 1988, have had angry youth at their core. Black October was harshly suppressed—more than 500 people were killed in five days—and was followed by a ‘black decade’ of violence and unrest. Thirty years on, the effects of that decade are still present. In a traumatized country, high unemployment leads to boredom and frustration in everyday life and many young people feel disconnected from the state and its institutions. Football, for many young men, becomes both an identity and a means of escape, with quasi-political groups of fans known as ‘Ultras’ playing a large and sometimes violent role in protests. In neglected working-class neighborhoods such as Bab el-Oued in Algiers, young people often seek refuge in diki—private places that are ‘bubbles of freedom’ away from the gaze of society and from conservative social values. But the sense of community and solidarity is often not enough to erase the trials of poor living conditions. In February 2019, thousands of young people from working-class neighborhoods again took to the streets in what became a nationwide challenge to the reign of long-time president Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

© Romain Laurendeau, World Press Photo of the Year | A young couple challenges a taboo as they kiss in a public space in Algiers, Algeria, on 8 December 2016.


Kho (the word means ‘brother’ in colloquial North-African Arabic) is about the genesis of a revolt. It is the story of the deep unease of youth, who, by daring to challenge authority, inspired the rest of the population to join their action, giving birth to the largest protest movement in Algeria in decades.

Romain Laurendeau trained in photography at ETPA in Toulouse, France and has worked on long term projects as a professional photographer in France, Senegal, Algeria and Palestinian territories and Israel. Laurendeau was diagnosed with Keratoconus, a progressive eye disease that distorts the cornea. During these years of illness, he explored intimacy through the introspective series, ‘When Darkness is Falling’.  After a corneal transplant in 2009, he decided to travel extensively to document the human condition in all of its social, economic and political aspects. For more than five years, he worked on sharing stories of young people in Algiers, Algeria. The work documents many of the underlying reasons for the protests happening in Algeria. Laurendeau then began a project on the use and trade of drugs in the Palestinian territories and Israel; a phenomenon common to both regions with populations suffering from the full force of conflict.

Kho, the Genesis of a Revolt World Press Photo Story of the Year

Romain Laurendeau won the World Press Photo Story of the Year 2020

Words by

World Press Photo

Kho, the Genesis of a Revolt World Press Photo Story of the Year
© Romain Laurendeau | Ultra fans sing during a football match in the 5 July 1962 Stadium in Algiers, Algeria, on 22 December 2015. After street demonstrations were banned in 2001, football stadiums became places where youth could protest through song.

The French photographer Romain Laurendeau from Toulouse won the World Press Photo Story of the Year 2020 with his story Kho, the Genesis of a Revolt about the revolt of young people in Algeria.

© Romain Laurendeau, World Press Story of the Year | Friends relax and watch television in their diki, a private space they have created in a converted storeroom, in Bab el-Oued, Algiers, Algeria, on 6 December 2016.

Romain Laurendeau | A young man gathers an audience as he experiments with a trumpet in the crowded ‘Climat de France’ quarter of Bab el-Oued, Algiers, Algeria, on 8 December 2014. Nobody knows how to play the instrument, but it generates widespread enthusiasm.

Young people make up more than half of Algeria’s population, and according to a UNESCO report 72% of people under 30 in Algeria are unemployed. Pivotal moments in Algerian history, such as the ‘Black October’ revolt of 1988, have had angry youth at their core. Black October was harshly suppressed—more than 500 people were killed in five days—and was followed by a ‘black decade’ of violence and unrest. Thirty years on, the effects of that decade are still present. In a traumatized country, high unemployment leads to boredom and frustration in everyday life and many young people feel disconnected from the state and its institutions. Football, for many young men, becomes both an identity and a means of escape, with quasi-political groups of fans known as ‘Ultras’ playing a large and sometimes violent role in protests. In neglected working-class neighborhoods such as Bab el-Oued in Algiers, young people often seek refuge in diki—private places that are ‘bubbles of freedom’ away from the gaze of society and from conservative social values. But the sense of community and solidarity is often not enough to erase the trials of poor living conditions. In February 2019, thousands of young people from working-class neighborhoods again took to the streets in what became a nationwide challenge to the reign of long-time president Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

© Romain Laurendeau, World Press Photo of the Year | A young couple challenges a taboo as they kiss in a public space in Algiers, Algeria, on 8 December 2016.


Kho (the word means ‘brother’ in colloquial North-African Arabic) is about the genesis of a revolt. It is the story of the deep unease of youth, who, by daring to challenge authority, inspired the rest of the population to join their action, giving birth to the largest protest movement in Algeria in decades.

Romain Laurendeau trained in photography at ETPA in Toulouse, France and has worked on long term projects as a professional photographer in France, Senegal, Algeria and Palestinian territories and Israel. Laurendeau was diagnosed with Keratoconus, a progressive eye disease that distorts the cornea. During these years of illness, he explored intimacy through the introspective series, ‘When Darkness is Falling’.  After a corneal transplant in 2009, he decided to travel extensively to document the human condition in all of its social, economic and political aspects. For more than five years, he worked on sharing stories of young people in Algiers, Algeria. The work documents many of the underlying reasons for the protests happening in Algeria. Laurendeau then began a project on the use and trade of drugs in the Palestinian territories and Israel; a phenomenon common to both regions with populations suffering from the full force of conflict.

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