The annual World Press Photo contest, now in its 57th edition, awards the best in visual journalism.
The winning photographs in nine categories, selected by an international jury of professionals in photojournalism, were announced on Feb. 14. They will be presented in a year-long exhibition traveling through more than 100 cities in over 45 countries, starting on April 18, in Amsterdam.
The descriptions of all the photos are from the World Press Photo website.
1. World Press Photo of the Year 2013 – John Stanmeyer (U.S.) for National Geographic
In this photo, titled “Signal,” African migrants on the shore of Djibouti city at night, raise their phones in an attempt to capture an inexpensive signal from neighboring Somalia—a tenuous link to relatives abroad.
Djibouti is a common stop-off point for migrants in transit from such countries as Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea, seeking a better life in Europe and the Middle East.
2. Spot News Stories, 1st prize – Goran Tomasevic (Serbia) for Reuters
In this photo, from the series, “Rebels Attack Government Checkpoint,” Syrian rebel fighters take cover amid flying debris and shrapnel after being hit by a tank shell fired towards them by the Syrian Army in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus, Syria.
On Jan. 30, 2013, a Syrian rebel group planning an attack on government forces was hit by sniper fire in Damascus. After evacuating their comrade, who was shot in the chest and would later die from injuries, the rebels returned to attack the checkpoint with rocket fire. Subsequently, government forces fired tank shells at the rebels. The rebels eventually retreated for the day to mourn the death of their comrade.
3. Staged Portraits Single, 1st Prize – Brent Stirton (South Africa) for Getty Images
A group of blind albino boys photographed in their boarding room at the Vivekananda mission school for the blind in West Bengal, India, on Sept. 25, 2013.
This is one of the very few schools for the blind in India today.
4. Nature Stories, 3rd prize – Christian Ziegler (Germany) for National Geographic
In this photo, from the series “Bonobos – Our Unknown Cousins,” a 5-year-old wild bonobo is seen near the Kokolopori Bonobo Reserve, in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Jan. 25, 2011.
Despite being humans’ closest living relatives, little is known about bonobos and their behavior in remote parts of the Congo basin. Bonobos are threatened by habitat loss and bush meat trade.
5. Observed Portraits Stories, 1st prize – Carla Kogelman (the Netherlands)
A photo from the series, “ICH BIN WALDVIERTEL,” about Hannah and Alena, two sisters living in the rural village of Merkenbrechts, Austria, taken on July 19, 2012.
6. Staged Portraits Stories, 2nd Prize – Denis Dailleux (France) for Agence VU
In this photo, from the series, “Mother and Son,” Ali, a young Egyptian bodybuilder, poses with his mother in Cairo, Egypt on Feb. 3, 2011.
7. Sports Feature Stories, 1st prize – Peter Holgersson (Sweden)
This photo, from the series, “Nadja Casadei – Heptathlon and Cancer,” top Swedish heptathlon athlete Nadja Casadei is feeling better just before her last treatment in Lidingo, Sweden on Dec. 19, 2013.
Casadei has participated in the World and European Championships in heptathlon. In the autumn of 2013, she was diagnosed with cancer and in January this year, she completed her chemotherapy. She has continued to train throughout her illness, hoping to be healthy and ready by the summer for the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
8. Observed Portraits Single, 1st prize – Markus Schreiber (Germany) for the Associated Press
In this photo, titled “Farewell Mandela,” a woman reacts in disappointment after access to see former South Africa President Nelson Mandela was closed on the third and final day of his casket lying in state, outside Union Buildings in Pretoria, South Africa, on Dec. 13, 2013.
9. Nature Stories, 1st prize – Steve Winter (U.S.) for National Geographic
This photo, from the series, “Cougars,” shows a cougar walking a trail in Los Angeles’ Griffith Park on March 2, 2013. To reach the park, which has been the cougar’s home for the last two years, it had to cross two of the busiest highways in the U.S.
Cougars, one of the most adaptable terrestrial mammals, are increasingly being seen in and around towns and cities, including Los Angeles and in the Hollywood Hills. Fear of these secretive cats, combined with a lack of adequate public knowledge, tends to justify the thousands of cougars killed every year.
10. Contemporary Issues Stories, 1st prize – Sara Naomi Lewkowicz (U.S.)
This photo, from the series, “A Portrait of Domestic Violence,” shows Ohio couple Shane and Maggie fighting as Maggie’s two-year-old daughter, Memphis runs into the room. Shane continued to scream in Maggie’s face as Memphis wedged herself between them.
11. Daily Life Stories, 1st Prize – Fred Ramos (El Salvador) for El Faro
This photo, from the series, “The Last Outfit of The Missing,” shows the clothes of an unknown female found at a sugar plantation in Apopa, San Salvador, El Salvador, on Aug. 10, 2013.
The North Central American Triangle (Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador) is one of the most violent regions in the world. In many cases, clothes that are found become the only means to identify victims.
12. Contemporary Issues Single, 3rd prize – Christopher Vanegas (Mexico) for La Vanguardia / El Guardían
In this photo, titled “Victims of Organized Crime,” police arrive at a crime scene where two bodies hang from a bridge; another three are on the floor in Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico, on March 8, 2013.
They had been killed by organized crime in Saltillo, Coahuila, in retaliation against other criminal groups.
13. Spot News Stories, 2nd prize – Tyler Hicks (U.S.) for The New York Times
In this photo from the series “Massacre at Westgate Mall,” a woman and children hide in the Westgate mall in Nairobi, Kenya on Sep. 21, 2013.
They escaped unharmed after gunmen had opened fire at the upscale Nairobi mall.
14. Sports Action Stories, 3rd prize – Quinn Rooney (Australia) for Getty Images
This photo, from the series, “World Swimming Sports,” shows Daniel Arnamnart of Australia competing in the men’s 100-meter backstroke during day two of the Australian Swimming Championships Adelaide, Australia on April 27, 2013.
15. Spot News Single, 1st prize – Phillipe Lopez (France) for Agence France-Presse
Survivors of typhoon Haiyan march during a religious procession in Tolosa, Philippines, on Nov. 18, 2013.
One of the strongest cyclones ever recorded, Haiyan left 8,000 people dead and missing and more than four million homeless after it hit the central Philippines.
16. General News Stories, 2nd prize – William Daniels (France), Panos Pictures forTime
A photo from the series, “Chaos in Central African Republic,” shows demonstrators gathering on the streets of Bangui on Nov. 17, 2013.
The Central African Republic’s current crisis, triggered by yet another coup, is starting to set in position a well-armed, mainly Muslim militia that is refusing to disarm against Anti-balaka, Christian vigilante groups defending the country’s majority Christian population.
The UN has warned of a potential slide into genocide and France has sent 1,600 troops to protect civilians and disarm the different militia.
17. General News Single, 1st prize – Alessandro Penso (Italy) for OnOff Pictures
This photo shows the temporary accommodation for Syrian refugees in Sofia, Bulgaria on Nov. 21, 2013.
Military Ramp, an emergency refugee center, was opened in September 2013 in an abandoned school in Sofia, Bulgaria. The center provides housing for about 800 Syrian refugees, including 390 children. Bulgaria, already hard hit by the economic crisis and heightened political instability, is totally unprepared to confront a refugee crisis.
18. Sports Action Single, 2nd prize – Andrzej Grygiel (Poland) for Polska Agencja Prasowa
This photo, titled “Slalom Action,” shows a competitor at the International Ski Championship in Szczyrk, Poland.
