Global jury chair Rena Effendi said about this image: “It is a kind of image that sears itself into your memory, it inspires a kind of sensory reaction. I could almost hear the quietness in this photograph, a quiet moment of global reckoning for the history of colonization, not only in Canada but around the world.”

The World Press Photo organization switched to a new regional model for the 2022 competition, as it found that there was an imbalance in representation among entrants, stories, and winners. In 2021, only 7% of entrants came from South America, 5% from Southeast Asia and Oceania, and 3% from Africa. The organization felt that this was not representative of the photojournalistic talent around the world, and sought to change its methods to reflect that.