World Press Photo 2012 Winners
Vincent Boisot of France, a Riva Press photographer working for Le Figaro Magazine, has won the second prize Arts and Entertainment Singles with this picture of a model posing in front of tailor stalls in the center of Dakar, Senegal, July 9, 2011. She wears the creation of a designer, Yolande Mancini, participating in the 9th edition of Dakar Fashion Week.
Rob Hornstra of the Netherlands has won the first prize Arts and Entertainment Stories with the series "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. Restaurants are plentiful and competition is fierce, with every restaurant employing a regular live musician blasting Russian chansons and popsa.
Brent Stirton of South Africa, a Getty Images photographer working for Kiev Independent, has won the first prize Contemporary Issues Singles with this picture of Maria, a drug addict and sex worker, in between clients in a room she rents in Kryvyi Rig, Ukraine August 31, 2011. Maria injects drugs on a daily basis and sees many men every week but claims she remains HIV negative. She says she need the money to support herself, her drug habit and her nine-year-old daughter.Getty Images
Stephanie Sinclair of the U.S., a VII Photo Agency photographer working for National Geographic magazine, has won the first prize Contemporary Issues Stories with the series "Child brides: Too young to wed". 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 Hajjah, Yemen, June 10, 2010. Nearly half of all women in Yemen were married as children. Child marriage is outlawed in many countries and international agreements forbid the practice yet this tradition still spans continents, language, religion and caste.
Damir Sagolj of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a Reuters photographer based in Thailand, has won the first prize Daily Life Singles with this photograph of a picture of North Korea's founder, Kim Il-sung, decorating a building in the capital Pyongyang October 5, 2011.Reuters
Alejandro Kirchuk of Argentina has won the first prize Daily Life Stories, with the series "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." Marcos, 89, and Monica, 87, have been married and living in their apartment in Buenos Aires, Argentina, for 65 years. In 2007, Monica was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Since that moment, her husband devoted all his time to take care of her. The disease is considered a future epidemic because it mainly affects older people, and as life expectancy is annually increasing in global population, the disease is becoming increasingly common.
Alex Majoli of Italy, a Magnum Photos photographer working for Newsweek, has won the first prize General News Singles with this picture of protesters crying, chanting and screaming in Tahrir Square after listening to the speech in which Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said he would not give up power in Cairo, Egypt, February 10, 2011.
Paolo Pellegrin of Italy, a Magnum Photos photographer working for Zeit Magazin, has won the second prize General News Stories with the "Tsunami aftermath" series. 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. More than 28,000 people are dead or missing and more than 125,000 buildings destroyed or severely damaged.
Jenny E. Ross of the U.S. has won the first prize Nature Singles with this picture of a male polar bear climbing precariously on the face of a cliff above the ocean at Ostrova Oranskie in northern Novaya Zemlya, Russia June 30, 2011, 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 as a result of climate change.
Brent Stirton of South Africa, a Getty Images photographer working for National Geographic magazine, has won first prize Nature Stories for the "Rhino Wars" series. The picture shows a female rhino in Tugela Private Game Reserve, Colenso, Natal, South Africa, November 9, 2010, that four months earlier survived a brutal dehorning by poachers who used a chainsaw to remove her horns and a large section of bone in that area of her skull. The female rhino survived the dehorning and has joined up with a male bull who now accompanies her. Rhino horn is now worth more than gold on the international market. South Africa alone has lost more than 400 rhino to illegal poaching incidents in 2011. The demand for Rhino horn is fueled by a wealthy Asian middle and upper class and used overwhelmingly as medication.Getty Images
Tomasz Lazar of Poland has won the second prize People in the News Singles with this picture of an arrest of protesters during a demonstration against police tactics and income inequality in Harlem, New York City, October 25, 2011.
Yasuyoshi Chiba of Japan, a photographer working for Agence France-Presse, has won the first prize People in the News Stories with the "Aftermath of the tsunami" series. Chieko Matsukawa shows her daughter's graduation certificate as she finds it in the debris in Higashimatsushima city, Miyagi prefecture, Japan April 3, 2011.
Laerke Posselt of Denmark has won the first Prize Portraits Singles with this picture of Iranian-born Danish actress Mellica Mehraban, in Copenhagen, May 4, 2011. 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: following a regime-approved script, she was required to wear a head scarf in all scenes, forbidden from swearing, and learned to show that she was in love with a man without telling him or touching him.
Ton Koene of the Netherlands has won the second prize Portraits Stories with the series "Recruits at police training center". 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. A police officer earns around $170 per month, and due to harsh living and working conditions and as well the high risk for being killed by the Taliban, many decide to leave the police force before their contract ends.
Yuri Kozyrev of Russia, a Noor Images photographer working for Time, has won the first prize Spot News Singles with this picture of rebels in Ras Lanuf, Libya, March 11, 2011. 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.
Niclas Hammerstrom of Sweden, a photographer working for Aftonbladet, has won the second prize Spot News Stories with the series "Utoya".Trying to avoid the killers bullets, many people jumped into the cold water in Utoya, Norway, July 22, 2011. Anders Behring Breivik killed 69 people on 22 July on the small island of Utoya outside Oslo in Norway.
Ray McManus of Ireland, a photographer working for Sportsfile, has won the second prize Sports Singles with this action picture from a rugby match between Old Belvedere and Blackrock played in heavy rain in Dublin, Ireland.February 5, 2011.
Adam Pretty of Australia, a Getty Images photographer, has won the second prize Sports Stories with the "World Swimming Championships" series. Picture shows divers practicing during the 14th FINA World Championships at the Oriental Sports Center in Shanghai, China, July 17, 2011.Getty Images