Winning images from World Press Photo
The winners of the World Press Photo contestwere announced in Amsterdam, Feb. 12, 2015. Here are some of the winning entries.
Cadet in the Koninklijke Militaire Academie (The Royal Military Academy ) located in Breda, The Netherlands.
Portraits of cadets from the most important military academies of Europe.
Contemporary Issues, 1st prize
Jon, 21, and Alex, 25, a gay couple, are photographed during an intimate moment. Life for lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) people is becoming increasingly difficult in Russia. Sexual minorities face legal and social discrimination, harassment, and even violent hate-crime attacks from conservative religious and nationalistic groups.
This image was declared the overall winning image for the contest.
Portraits, 1st prize, singles
Laurinda waits in her purple dress for the bus that will take her to Sunday School. Moree, New South Wales, Australia.
Daily life, 2nd prize, singles
Twin brothers Igor and Arthur hand out chocolates to their classmates to celebrate their 9th birthday. When they were two years old, their mother traveled to Moscow to work in the construction field and later died; they have no father.
They are among thousands of children growing up without their parents in the Moldovan countryside. Young people have fled the country, leaving a dwindling elderly population and young children.
Daily life, 2nd prize, stories
John wears his grandson’s bowler hat.
It was in the afternoon. I was sitting on my grandpa’s couch. The door was slightly open, and I saw light coming through, washed out between the white door and white walls. All of a sudden it all started making sense. I could relate what I was seeing with what I felt. John and Prova, my grandparents. Growing up, I found much love and care from them. They were young and strong.
As time went by, it shaped everything in its own way. Bodies took different forms and relations went distant. Grandma’s hair turned gray, the walls started peeling off and the objects were all that remained. Everything was contained into one single room. They always love the fact that I take pictures of them, because then I spend more time with them, and they don’t feel lonely anymore. After Prova passed away, I try to visit more so John can talk. He tells me stories of their early life, and how they met. There are so many stories. Here, life is silent, suspended. Everything is on a wait; A wait for something that I don’t completely understand.
General news, 1st prize, singles
Damaged goods lie on a damaged kitchen in downtown Donetsk, Ukraine, Aug. 26, 2014.
Residential areas in several districts of Donetsk, including the central part of the city, suffered from artillery fire, three people was killed and 10 wounded, the press centre of Donetsk city Council reported.
Contemporary issues, 2nd prize, singles
Wei, a 19-year-old Chinese worker, wearing a face mask and a Santa cap, stands next to Christmas decorations being dried in a factory in Yiwu, China, as red powder used as coloring hovers in the air.
Wei needs to change the mask five times a day, and the cap protects his hair from the red dust.
Sports, 2nd prize, singles
Odell Beckham (13) of the New York Giants scores a touchdown in the second quarter against the Dallas Cowboys at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, Nov. 23, 2014.
Nature, 1st prize, stories
An ant (Dinoponera mutica) infected with fungus ( Ophiocordyceps sp).
The fungus forces the ant to climb off the forest floor and bite down on a leaf or branch. The fungus then kills the ant, grows out of its body, and releases spores that will infect more ants. The ant's position when it dies helps the fungus disperse its spores more effectively.
From the essay "Mindsuckers."
Contemporary issues, 3rd prize, stories
Students are seen in a schoolyard in El Dorado County, California. In 2006, a drone strike on a religious school in the village of Chenegai reportedly killed up to 69 Pakistani children.
From the essay "Blue Sky Days."
Nature, 2nd prize, singles
A group of young Samburu warriors encounter a rhino for the first time in their lives. Most people in Kenya never get the opportunity to see the wildlife that exists literally in their own backyard.
Organized by sophisticated, heavily armed criminal networks and fueled by heavy demand from newly minted millionaires in emerging markets, poaching is devastating the great animals of the African plains. Much needed attention has been focused on the plight of wildlife and the conflict between poachers and increasingly militarized wildlife rangers, but very little has been said about the indigenous communities on the frontlines of the poaching wars and the work that is being done to strengthen them. These communities hold the key to saving Africa’s great animals.
Long term projects, 1st prize, stories
Julie, 18, stood in the lobby of the Ambassador Hotel, barefoot, pants unzipped, and an eight-day-old infant in her arms. She lived in San Francisco’s SRO district, a neighborhood of soup kitchens and cheap rooms. Her room was piled with clothes, overfull ashtrays and trash. She lived with Jack, who had given her AIDS, and father of her first baby, Rachel.
Her first memory of her mother is getting drunk with her at 6 and then being sexually abused by her stepfather. She ran away at 14 and became a drug addict at 15. Living in alleys and crack dens, and bunked with more dirty old men than she cared to count. “Rachel,” Julie said, “has given me a reason to live.”
San Francisco, California 1993.
I first met Julie on January 28, 1993. For the next 21 years I have photographed Julie Baird and her family’s complex story of poverty, AIDS, drugs, multiple homes, relationships, births, deaths, loss and reunion. Following Julie from the streets of San Francisco to the woods of Alaska. By 2002, Julie had given birth to five children: Rachel, Tommy, Jordan, Ryan and Jason Jr. All were taken from her by the State of California. She had “stolen” one newborn from the hospital so he wouldn't be taken. A stunt that cost Julie and her partner, Jason, time in jail. In 2008, Julie gave birth to her sixth child, Elyssa, the only one they were able to keep.
General news, 1st prize, stories
Medical staff at the Hastings Ebola Treatment Center work escort a man in the throes Ebola-induced delirium back into the isolation ward from which he escaped in Hastings, Sierra Leone on Sunday, November 23, 2014. In a state of confusion, he emerged from the isolation ward and attempted to escape over the back wall of the complex before collapsing in a convulsive state. A complete breakdown of metal facilities is a common stage of advanced Ebola. The man pictured here died shortly after this picture was taken.
General news, 2nd prize, singles
Shipwrecked people aboard a boat are rescued 20 miles north of Libya by a frigate from the Italian navy. After hundreds of men, women and children had drowned in 2013 off the coast of Sicily and Malta, the Italian government put its navy to work under Operation Mare Nostrum rescuing refugees at sea.
In 2014 alone, 170,081 people were rescued and taken to Italy. More than 42,000 had come from Syria, 34,000 from Eritrea, 10,000 from Mali, 9,000 from Nigeria, as many from Gambia, 6,000 from Palestine, and more than 5,000 from Somalia.
Spot news, 2nd prize, stories
An Orthodox priest blesses protesters on a barricade. On February 20, 2014 unidentified snipers opened fire on disarmed protesters as they was advancing on Instituska street. According to an official source, 70 protesters were shot dead.
Ukrainian riot police claimed that several policeman were wounded or shot dead by snipers as well. An unofficial source said that snipers opened fire on the police and protesters at the same time in order to provoke both camps.
Sports, 1st prize, singles
Argentina player Lionel Messi faces the World Cup trophy during the final ceremony at Maracana Stadium. His team lost to Germany 1-0, after a goal by Mario Götze in extra time.
General news, 2nd prize, stories
On April 14, 2014, nearly 300 girls were kidnapped from a remote school dormitory in Northern Nigeria by Boko Haram, an Islamic terrorist group. These are the school uniforms belonging to three of the missing girls.
Spot news, 1st prize, singles
A young girl is pictured after she was wounded during clashes between riot-police and prostesters after the funeral of Berkin Elvan, the 15-year-old boy who died from injuries suffered during last year's anti-government protests, in Istanbul, Turkey, March 12, 2014.
Riot police fired tear gas and water cannon at protestors in the capital Ankara, while in Istbanbul, crowds shouting anti-government slogans lit a huge fire as they made their way to a cemetery for the burial of Berkin Elvan.
Nature, 1st prize, singles
A monkey cowers as its trainer Qi Defang approaches during training for a circus in Suzhou, Anhui province, China. With more than 300 circus troupes, Suzhou is known as the hometown of the Chinese circus.