If you find yourself in Ottawa this summer, be sure to check out the 2018 World Press Photo exhibition at the Canadian War Museum from July 20 to August 12. This free exhibit shows the results of the annual World Photo Press Photo contest, which rewards professional photographers for the best single exposure pictures contributing to the past year of visual journalism.

Mary Lengees, one of the first female keepers at the Reteti Elephant Sanctuary in northern Kenya, caresses Suyian, the sanctuary’s first resident, who was rescued in 2016, when she was just four weeks old. Women at Reteti are seen as bringing important nurturing skills into the workforce. (Photo: Ami Vitale for National Geographic)

Since its launch more than 60 years ago, the World Photo Press has been helping photographers expose their work to a global audience through an annual photo contest. In the current era of ‘fake news,’ this year’s more than 73,000 entries were judged in terms of their accurate, fair, and visually compelling insights about our world.

Students from the Kijini Primary School learn to swim and perform rescues in the Indian Ocean off Muyuni Beach, Zanzibar. Traditionally, girls in the Zanzibar Archipelago are discouraged from learning how to swim, largely because of the strictures of a conservative Islamic culture and the absence of modest swimwear. But in villages on the northern tip of Zanzibar, the Panje Project (panje translates as ‘big fish’) is providing opportunities for local women and girls to learn swimming skills in full-length swimsuits, so that they can enter the water without compromising their cultural or religious beliefs. (Photo: Anna Boyiazis, United States)

The next Canadian stops for the gallery include the Marché Bonsecours in Montreal from August 29 to September 30, Brookfield Place in Toronto from October 2 to 22, and La Pulperie in Chicoutimi from October 19 to November 11.

Not able to visit the travelling gallery in person? Explore the entire collection of winning images on the World Press Photo web site.