The winners of the World Press Photo awards were announced earlier today. Pietro Masturzo’s photograph of a group of women shouting from a Tehran rooftop in protest at the Iranian presidential results (above) took Photo of the Year. Click through for the rest of the winning work…
Masturzo’s photograph is part of a story depicting the nights following the contested presidential elections in Iran, when people shouted their dissent from roofs and balconies, after daytime protests in the streets. The story as a whole was awarded first prize in the category People in the News.
Juror Kate Edwards (picture editor of the Guardian Weekend Magazine) remarked that “the photo has a powerful sense of atmosphere, tension, fear – but also of quietness and calm, and in this sense was a challenge as a choice. We were looking for an image that drew you in, took you deeper, made you think more – not just about showing what we already know, but something that asks more of us.”
This year the jury also decided to name a Special Mention and, unusually, it went to a frame grab from a video posted on YouTube in June 2009 during the post-election uprising in Iran. The still from the video depicts a woman identified as Neda Agha-Soltan lying on the ground after being shot in the chest. Warning: The image is extremely graphic in nature and so appears at the very bottom of this post after a gap.
On the selection of the still from the film of Agha-Soltan’s death, jury member David Griffin of National Geographic commented, “I am pleased that World Press Photo has provided an avenue for non-professional images that have a significant impact on the historical visual record.” The WPP jury considers an image 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.
Here are some highlights from the rest of the sections. Again, it goes without saying, but please be aware that some of the images are upsetting.
SPOT NEWS SINGLES 1st Adam Ferguson, Australia, VII Mentor Program for The New York Times. Afghan woman rushed from the scene of a suicide bombing, Kabul, 15 December
SPOT NEWS STORIES 1st Walter Astrada, Argentina, Agence France-Presse. Bloodbath in Madagascar, February
GENERAL NEWS SINGLES 1st Kent Klich, Sweden. Gaza photo album: Tuzzah, Gaza Strip, 3 March
GENERAL NEWS STORIES 1st Marco Vernaschi, Italy, for Pulitzer Center, Guinea Bissau
PEOPLE IN THE NEWS SINGLES 2nd David Guttenfelder, USA, The Associated Press. US soldiers respond to Taliban fire outside their bunker, Korengal Valley
SPORTS ACTION SINGLES 1st Gareth Copley, United Kingdom, Press Association. England’s Jonathan Trott is run out at the fifth Ashes test match, London, 20 August
SPORTS ACTION STORIES. 1st Donald Miralle, Jr., USA. Ironman World Championships, Hawaii
SPORTS FEATURES SINGLES 1st Robert Gauthier, USA, Los Angeles Times Magazine. Yankee fans try to distract Angels left fielder Juan Rivera, Yankee Stadium, 25 October
SPORTS FEATURES STORIES 1st Elizabeth Kreutz, USA. Lance Armstrong’s comeback
CONTEMPORARY ISSUES SINGLES 2nd Stefano De Luigi, Italy, VII Network for Le Monde Magazine. Giraffe killed by drought, northeast Kenya, September
CONTEMPORARY ISSUES STORIES 1st Eugene Richards, USA, Reportage by Getty Images for The Sunday Times Magazine/Paris Match. War Is Personal, USA
DAILY LIFE SINGLES 2nd Joan Bardeletti, France. Sunday picnic, Mozambique
DAILY LIFE STORIES 1st Gihan Tubbeh, Peru. Adrian, 13-year old autist
PORTRAITS SINGLES 1st Laura Pannack, United Kingdom, Lisa Pritchard Agency for The Guardian Weekend magazine. Graham, anorexic teenager
PORTRAITS STORIES 2nd Annie van Gemert, the Netherlands. Boys and girls
ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT SINGLES 1st Malick Sidibé, Mali, for The New York Times Magazine Fashion portfolio: Prints and the Revolution, Mali
ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT STORIES 1st Kitra Cahana, Canada, Fabrica for Colors Rainbowland, New Mexico
NATURE SINGLES 1st Joe Petersburger, Hungary, National Geographic. Hunting kingfisher, Hungary
NATURE STORIES 1st Paul Nicklen, Canada, National Geographic. South Georgia, Antarctica
More at worldpressphoto.org.
Warning: Please be aware that the following image is of an extremely graphic nature. It is a still taken from a film uploaded to YouTube in June 2009 during the post-election uprising in Iran, which depicted the death of Neda Agha-Soltan. You can read more about the incident on this Wikipedia page, Death of Neda Agha-Soltan.
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