55th World Press Photo Awards
Awards for the best photojournalism from 2012 were just announced by World Press Photo. Samuel Aranda's compelling photograph from Yemen (above) was declared the Photo of the Year. Read more about this and other winning images from around the globe, and view them here in Lens Culture's...
Photographs courtesy of individual artists andWorld Press Photo
Awards for the best photojournalism from 2012 were just announced by World Press Photo. Samuel Aranda's compelling photograph from Yemen (above) was declared the Photo of the Year. Read more about this and other winning images from around the globe, and view them here in Lens Culture's high-resolution slideshow.
The international jury of the 55th annual World Press Photo Contest has selected a picture by Samuel Aranda from Spain as the World Press Photo of the Year 2011. The picture shows a woman holding a wounded relative in her arms, inside a mosque used as a field hospital by demonstrators against the rule of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, during clashes in Sanaa, Yemen on 15 October 2011. Samuel Aranda was working in Yemen on assignment for The New York Times.
Lens Culture is pleased to present the winning photos here.
Comments about the winning photo by members of the jury:
"It is a photo that speaks for the entire region. It stands for Yemen, Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Syria, for all that happened in the Arab Spring. But it shows a private, intimate side of what went on. And it shows the role that women played, not only as care-givers, but as active people in the movement."
Nina Berman
"In the Western media, we seldom see veiled women in this way, at such an intimate moment. It is as if all of the events of the Arab Spring resulted in this single moment -- in moments like this."
Aidan Sullivan
"The winning photo shows a poignant, compassionate moment, the human consequence of an enormous event, an event that is still going on. We might never know who this woman is, cradling an injured relative, but together they become a living image of the courage of ordinary people that helped create an important chapter in the history of the Middle East."
Manoocher Deghati
"The photo is the result of a very human moment, but it also reminds us of something important, that women played a crucial part in this revolution. It is easy to portray the aggressiveness of situations like these. This image shows the tenderness that can exist within all the aggression. The violence is still there, but it shows another side."Now in its 55th year, the annual World Press Photo Contest is universally recognized as the world's leading international contest for photojournalists, setting the standard for the profession. The judging is conducted at the World Press Photo office, where all entries are presented anonymously to the jury, who discusses and debates their merits over a period of two weeks. The jury operates independently, and a secretary without voting rights safeguards a fair procedure.The jury gave prizes in nine themed categories to 57 photographers of 24 nationalities from: Afghanistan, Argentina, Australia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the USA.
Following the judging of the contest, the 2012 jury decided to give a Special Mention to an image of a Libyan National Transition Council fighter pulling Muammar Gaddafi on to a military vehicle. The still image was taken from a video shot in Sirte, Libya, 20 October 2011. Chair of the jury Aidan Sullivan commented: "The photo captures an historic moment, an image of a dictator and his demise that we otherwise would not have seen, had it not been photographed by a member of the public."Jury member Renata Ferri said: "This was an important document for posterity, for transparency, and to understand the dynamics of how Gaddafi came to his end." The jury considers a visual document for a Special Mention when it has played an essential role in the news reporting of the year worldwide and could not have been made by a professional photographer.
World Press Photo of the Year 2011: © Samuel Aranda, Spain, for The New York Times. Sanaa, Yemen, 15 October. A woman holds a wounded relative during protests against president Saleh.
2nd prize Arts and Entertainment Singles: © Vincent Boisot, France, Riva Press for Le Figaro Magazine. Dakar, Senegal, 9 July. A model poses in front of tailor stalls in the center of Dakar, Senegal. She wears the creation of a designer, Yolande Mancini, participating in the 9th edition of Dakar Fashion Week.
1st prize Arts and Entertainment Stories © Rob Hornstra, The Netherlands. The Sochi Project: Sochi Singers. Marika Bajur sings "Kuriu" in the restaurant Eurasia. The southern Russian city of Sochi lies on the Black Sea and attracts predominantly Russian holidaymakers who come for a mix of sun, sea, sand and nightlife.
1st prize Contemporary Issues Singles: © Brent Stirton, South Africa, Reportage by Getty Images for Kiev Independent. Kryvyi Rig, Ukraine, 31 August. Maria, a drug addict and sex worker, in between clients in a room she rents in Kryvyi Rig, Ukraine. Maria injects drugs on a daily basis and sees many men every week but claims she remains HIV negative.
1st prize Contemporary Issues Stories: © Stephanie Sinclair, USA, VII Photo Agency for National Geographic magazine. Hajjah, Yemen, 10 June 2010 . Tahani (in pink), who married her husband Majed when she was 6 and he was 25, poses for this portrait with former classmate Ghada, also a child bride, outside their mountain home in Hajjah. Nearly half of all women in Yemen were married as children.
1st prize Daily Life Singles: © Damir Sagolj, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Reuters Pyongyang, North Korea, 5 October. A picture of North Korea's founder, Kim Il-sung, decorates a building in the capital Pyongyang.
1st prize Daily Life Stories: © Alejandro Kirchuk, Argentina. "Never Let You Go". Marcos leads Monica from their room to the living room. Although at times he grumbles about the time devoted to her care, Marcos did not see any other possibility. Tell me where she is going to be better than here. I treat her like a princess, here she has everything.
1st prize General News Singles: © Alex Majoli, Italy, Magnum Photos for Newsweek. Cairo, Egypt, 10 February. Protesters cry, chant and scream in Cairos Tahrir Square, after listening to the speech in which Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said he would not give up power.
2nd prize General News Stories: © Paolo Pellegrin, Italy, Magnum Photos for Zeit Magazin. Tsunami aftermath, Japan, 14 April. The devastating 9.0-magnitude earthquake that hit the northeast coast of Japan triggered hugely destructive tsunami waves of up to 38 meters that struck Japan traveling up to ten kilometers inland.
1st prize Nature Singles: © Jenny E. Ross, USA Novaya Zemlya, Russia, 30 June. A male polar bear climbs precariously on the face of a cliff above the ocean at Ostrova Oranskie in northern Novaya Zemlya, attempting to feed on seabird eggs. This bear was marooned on land and unable to feed on seals—its normal prey—because sea ice had melted throughout the region and receded far to the north.
1st prize Nature Stories: © Brent Stirton, South Africa, Reportage by Getty Images for National Geographic magazine. Rhino Wars, Tugela Private Game Reserve, Colenso, Natal, South Africa, 9 November 2010. A female rhino in Natal, South Africa, that four months earlier survived a brutal dehorning by poachers who used a chainsaw to remove her horns.
2nd prize People in the News Singles: © Tomasz Lazar, Poland New York, USA, 25 October. Arrest of protesters in Harlem, New York City, during a demonstration against police tactics and income inequality.
1st prize People in the News Stories: © Yasuyoshi Chiba, Japan, Agence France-Presse Aftermath of the tsunami, Japan, 3 April. Chieko Matsukawa shows her daughters graduation certificate as she finds it in the debris in Higashimatsushima city, Miyagi prefecture, Japan.
1st Prize Portraits Singles: © Laerke Posselt, Denmark Iranian-born Danish actress Mellica Mehraban, Copenhage, 4 May. The 27-year-old Iranian-born actress Mellica Mehraban grew up in Denmark, but debuted as an actor in Iran in 2011. Taking the leading role as a villain in the spy drama 'Fox Hunting', she learned firsthand about the culture of her native country.
2nd prize Portraits Stories: © Ton Koene, The Netherlands Recruit at a police training center, Kunduz, Afghanistan, 28 September. New Afghan police recruits at the German police training centre in Kunduz, Afghanistan. All are illiterate; they are farmer sons from rural areas who never had any education and are joining the police for economic reasons. Their loyalty to the government is thin.
1st prize Spot News Singles: © Yuri Kozyrev, Russia, Noor Images for Time. Rebels in Ras Lanuf, Libya, 11 March. For weeks, rebels held out against Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi with the hope that the world would come to their aid. Defiance faded as the dictator's planes and tanks began to retake what had been dubbed Free Libya.
2nd prize Spot News Stories: © Niclas Hammerström, Sweden, for Aftonbladet. Utøya, Norway, 22 July. Trying to avoid the killers bullets, many people jumped into the cold water. Anders Behring Breivik killed 69 people on 22 July on the small island of Utøya outside Oslo in Norway.
2nd prize Sports Singles: © Ray McManus, Ireland, Sportsfile. Scrum half, Old Belvedere vs. Blackrock, Dublin, Ireland, 5 February. Action from a rugby match between Old Belvedere and Blackrock played in heavy rain in Dublin, Ireland.
2nd prize Sports Stories: © Adam Pretty, Australia, Getty Images Shanghai, China, 17 July. Divers practice during the 14th FINA World Championships at the Oriental Sports Center in Shanghai, China.
A full-screen slideshow of the best in photojournalism according to World Press Photo.
Just another president!
Domenico D'Alessandro
Domenico D'Alessandro delivers a photojournalistic report from Egypt, before and after the recent elections.
Experiences of Conflict: 15 Perspectives on War
Alexander Strecker
The Editors of LensCulture compiled 15 articles and portfolios dealing with conflict, war, soldiers, fighters and all of those affected along the way.
Blow Photo: Self-Portraits
Blow Photo
"All art is autobiographical. The pearl is the oyster's autobiography." An opinionated look at some fresh, emerging self-portrait makers, especially those who hew closer to fiction than autobiography.
Yo Soy Fidel: Crossing Cuba with Michael Christopher Brown
Michael Christopher Brown
Following the "Freedom Caravan" that carried Fidel Castro's remains across Cuba after his death, photographer Michael Christopher Brown offers a revealing portrait of the island nation.