The Promise

From the Archives: World Press Photo contest 2022

Antonella yawns while studying in bed, in her room at home in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on 29 July 2021. She says she feels a lack of motivation studying at home, and often studies in bed as she doesn't feel like getting up.

In August 2020, Antonella (12), who lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina, vowed to cut her long hair only when she could resume in-person classes at school, which had been suspended as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Antonella said she was offering up her most precious treasure in exchange for getting her school life back. Her hair was her identity. She said: "When I finally go back to school they will know I'm a different person, I feel like a different person." She cut her hair on 25 September 2021, on the weekend before she returned to classes.