A moonlit image of refugees crossing the border from Serbia into Hungary has been selected as the World Press photo of the year. Taken at night on 28 August 2015, this man and child were part of the movement of people seeking to cross into Hungary before a secure fence on the border was completed.
Australian freelance photographer Warren Richardson explained how he took the picture: "I camped with the refugees for five days on the border. A group of about 200 people arrived, and they moved under the trees along the fence line. They sent women and children, then fathers and elderly men first. I must have been with this crew for about five hours and we played cat and mouse with the police the whole night. I was exhausted by the time I took the picture. It was around three o'clock in the morning and you can't use a flash while the police are trying to find these people, because I would just give them away. So I had to use the moonlight alone."
World Press photo of the year: Hope for a New Life. A man passes a baby through the fence at the Serbia/Hungary border in Röszke, Hungary, 28 August 2015Warren Richardson, Australia, 2015
The 2016 contest drew entries from around the world: 5,775 photographers from 128 countries submitted 82,951 images. The jury gave prizes in eight categories to 41 photographers from 21 countries: Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Iran, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Portugal, Russia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Turkey, and the US.
General News, 1st prize singles: IS Fighter Treated at Kurdish Hospital. A doctor rubs ointment on the burns of a 16-year-old Islamic State fighter named Jacob in front of a poster of Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, at a YPG hospital compound on the outskirts of Hasaka, Syria on 1 August 2015Mauricio Lima, Brazil, 2015 for The New York Times
General News, 2nd prize singles: Under the Cover of Darkness. Refugees travel in darkness through Europe to avoid detection; Lesbos, Greece, 6 December 2015Paul Hansen, Sweden, 2015, Dagens NyheterGeneral News, 3rd prize singles: Tianjin Explosion. Aerial view of the destruction after the explosion in Tianjin, China, 15 August 2015Chen Jie, China, 2015
Refugees arrive by boat near the village of Skala on Lesbos, Greece, 16 November 2015Sergey Ponomarev, Russia, 2015, for The New York TimesRefugees attempt to board a train headed to Zagreb, Croatia in Tovarnik, Hungary, 18 September 2015Sergey Ponomarev, Russia, 2015, for The New York Times
General News, 2nd prize stories: Abd Doumany – Douma's Children. Child victims of air raids by Syrian government forces in the rebel-held city of Douma
A wounded Syrian girl at a makeshift hospital in Douma, Syria, 22 August 2015Abd Doumany, Syria, 2015, Agence France-PresseA wounded Syrian girl cries at a makeshift hospital in the rebel-held area of Douma, Syria, 12 August 2015Abd Doumany, Syria, 2015, Agence France-Presse
General News, 3rd prize stories: Daniel Berehulak – An Earthquake's Aftermath, Nepal
Residents forage through their destroyed homes, gathering salvageable belongings. Bhaktapur, Nepal, 29 April 2015Daniel Berehulak, Australia, 2015, for The New York TimesNepalese villages watch a helicopter picking up a medical team, dropping aid at the edge of a makeshift landing zone in Gumda, Nepal, 9 May 2015Daniel Berehulak, Australia, 2015, for The New York Times
Spot News singles:
Spot News, 2nd prize singles: March Against Terrorism in Paris. Demonstration against terrorism in Paris, after a series of five attacks occurred across the Île-de-France region, beginning at the headquarters for satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo. Paris, France, 11 January 2015Corentin Fohlen, France, 2015
Spot News, 1st prize stories: Sameer Al-Doumy - Aftermath of Airstrikes in Syria
Douma, a rebel-held city in a suburb of the capital Damascus, lies in the opposition bastion area of Eastern Ghouta and has been subject to massive regime aerial bombardment. The area has also been under a crippling government siege for nearly two years as part of a regime attempt to break the rebel's hold in the region. Douma and small rural towns in the Eastern Ghouta area were recorded as suffering from the highest number of fatalities since the start of the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad in March 2011, according to the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights. Government planes regularly bomb Douma and other small towns in Ghouta, which is an agricultural belt around the capital, leaving a constant trail of destruction and loss of lives. At the end of September 2015, Russia launched air strikes in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The thunderous shelling in and around and the city has forced civilians from the town to join the growing number of more than four million Syrians fleeing the country since the Syrian conflict erupted in 2011.
A wounded man walks out of a dust cloud following reported air strikes in the town of Hamouria, Syria, 9 December 2015Sameer Al-Doumy, Syria, 2015, Agence France-PresseA boy is evacuated from rubble following reported air strikes in the city of Douma, Syria, 16 June 2015Sameer Al-Doumy, Syria, 2015, Agence France-Presse
Spot News, 2nd prize stories: Roberto Schmidt – Avalanche, 25-27 April, Everest Base Camp, Nepal
A wall of rock, snow and debris slammed on Everest Base Camp in Nepal on April 25, 2015, killing at least 22 people and injuring many more. The avalanche was triggered by a powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake that killed more than 8,000 people elsewhere in the country. Rescue helicopters managed to reach the site about 18 hours after the avalanche as bad weather, strong aftershocks and fears of further avalanches rattled survivors. At the time of the disaster, the 5,364-meter-high Base Camp was teeming with hundreds of climbers and supporting teams who used the camp to prepare their ascent to the peak of Mount Everest, the tallest mountain on Earth.
A wall of rock, snow and debris roars toward Everest Base Camp, Nepal, 25 April 2015Roberto Schmidt, Germany, 2015, Agence France-PresseA man suffering from severe head trauma is bundled in a sleeping bag used as a makeshift stretcher while being taken by rescuers to a medical tent moments after the avalanche in Nepal, 25 April 2015Roberto Schmidt, Germany, 2015, Agence France-Presse
Spot News, 3rd prize stories: Bulent Kilic – Broken Border, 13-15 June, Sanliurfa, Turkey
Syrians fleeing the war rush through broken down border fences to enter Turkish territory illegally, near the Turkish border crossing at Akcakale in Sanliurfa province. Turkey said it was taking measures to limit the flow of Syrian refugees onto its territory after an influx of thousands more over the last days due to fighting between Kurds and jihadists. Under an "open-door" policy, Turkey has taken in 1.8 million Syrian refugees since the conflict in Syria erupted in 2011.
Islamic State members ask people to go back to city centre at the Turkish Akçakale crossing gate in Sanliurfa province, Turkey, 13 June 2015Bulent Kilic, Turkey, 2015, Agence France-PresseA refugee man holds a young girl as others climb over broken-down border fences to enter Turkish territory; Sanliurfa, Turkey, 14 June 2015Bulent Kilic, Turkey, 2015, Agence France-Presse
Contemporary Issues, singles:
Contemporary Issues, 1st prize singles: Haze in China. A city in northern China shrouded in haze, Tianjin, China, 10 December 2015Zhang Lei, China, 2015, Tianjin DailyContemporary Issues, 2nd prize singles: The Forgotten Mountains of Sudan. Adam Abdel, 7, was severely burned after a bomb was dropped by a Sudanese government Antonov plane next to his family home in Burgu, Central Darfur, Sudan. 27 February 2015Adriane Ohanesian, USA, 2015Contemporary Issues, 3rd prize singles: March Against Police Violence. Lamon Reccord stares down a police sergeant during a protest following the fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald by police in Chicago, Illinois, USA, 25 November 2015John J. Kim, USA, 2015, Chicago Tribune
Contemporary Issues, 1st prize stories: Mário Cruz – Talibes, Modern-day Slaves
Series portraying the plight of Talibes, boys who live at Islamic schools known as Daaras in Senegal. Under the pretext of receiving a Quranic education, they are forced to beg in the streets while their religious guardians, or Marabout, collect their daily earnings. They often live in squalor and are abused and beaten.
Abdoulaye, 15, is a talibe imprisoned in a room with security bars to keep him from running away. Thies, Senegal, 18 May 2015Mário Cruz, Portugal, 2015Talibes sleep next to each other inside a daara on the concrete floor without any protection. Saint Louis, Senegal, 21 May 2015Mário Cruz, Portugal, 2015
Contemporary Issues, 2nd prize stories: Francesco Zizola – In the Same Boat
Libyan migrants being rescued by the international medical relief organisation Doctors Without Borders in the Mediterranean Sea.
Migrants wrapped in emergency blankets two days after being rescued catch sight of the Italian coast for the first time; Strait of Sicily, Mediterranean Sea, 23 August 2015Francesco Zizola, Italy, 2015, NoorMigrants rescued off the Libyan coast gather on the deck of the Doctors Without Borders rescue ship and attend a service; Strait of Sicily, Mediterranean Sea, 3 September 2015Francesco Zizola, Italy, 2015, Noor
Contemporary Issues, 3rd prize stories: Sara Naomi Lewkowicz – Emily and Kate and Eddie and Reid
Although they hadn't planned it, Emily and Kate got pregnant within weeks of each other through artificial insemination and in vitro fertilisation, respectively. Their sons were born within four days of each other, and the couple embraced the challenge of raising the two babies at once.
Kate often kept Emily company while she took baths. Late in the pregnancy, particularly once Emily was overdue, she said that baths were one of the easiest ways to relax her body. Kate, who became pregnant three weeks later than Emily, showed less, and the two would often compare their baby bumps and talk to each other’s bellies. Maplewood, New Jersey, USA, 29 November 2015Sara Naomi Lewkowicz, USA, 2015Emily rubs sleep out of her eyes while feeding Reid, as Kate holds Eddie during a late-night feeding. Maplewood, New Jersey, USA, 30 December 2015Sara Naomi Lewkowicz, USA, 2015
Daily Life, singles:
Daily Life, 1st prize singles: China's Coal Addiction. Chinese men pull a tricycle in a neighborhood next to a coal-fired power plant in Shanxi, China, on 26 November 2015. A history of heavy dependence on burning coal for energy has made China the source of nearly a third of the world's total carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, the toxic pollutants widely cited by scientists and environmentalists as the primary cause of global warmingKevin Frayer, Canada, 2015, Getty ImagesDaily Life, 2nd prize singles: Amazon's Munduruku Tribe. Indigenous Munduruku children play in the Tapajos river in the tribal area of Sawre Muybu, Itaituba, Brazil on 10 February 2015. The tribesmen of the Munduruku, who for centuries have sanctified the Tapajos River on which their villages sit, are fighting for survival. Brazil’s government plans to flood much of their land to build a $9.9 billion hydroelectric dam, the Sao Luiz do Tapajos, as part of a wider energy strategy across the Amazon rainforestMauricio Lima, Brazil, 2015, for The New York TimesDaily Life, 3rd prize singles: Into the Light. Raheleh, who was born blind, stands behind the window in the morning. She likes the warmness of the sunlight on her face. Babol, Mazandaran, Iran, 12 November 2015Zohreh Saberi, Iran, 2015, Mehrnews Agency
Daily Life, 1st prize stories: Daniel Berehulak – An Antarctic Advantage
Chilean, Chinese and Russian research teams in Antarctica seek to explore commercial opportunities that will arise once the treaties protecting the continent for scientific purposes expire.
A priest looks on in the Bell room, after a vigil at the Russian Orthodox Church of the Holy Trinity; Fildes Bay, Antartica, 3 December 2015Daniel Berehulak, Australia, 2015, for The New York TimesThe winter expedition crew of Russian research team and a Chilean scientist drink Samagon, a homemade vodka, in a bedroom of the Bellingshausen Antarctica base; Fildes Bay, Antartica, 28 November 2015Daniel Berehulak, Australia, 2015, for The New York Times
Daily Life, 2nd prize stories: Kevin Frayer – Bliss Dharma Assembly
Tibetan Buddhists take part in the annual Bliss Dharma Assembly. The last of four annual assemblies, the week-long annual gathering takes place in the ninth month of the Tibetan calendar and marks Buddha's descent from the heavens. See more of these stunning photos in this IBTimes UK gallery.
Tibetan prayer flags, known as Lung-ta, on a hillside in the Larung Valley of Sertar County, Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan province, China, 30 October 2015Kevin Frayer, Canada, 2015, Getty ImagesTibetan Buddhist nomads listen during the annual Bliss Dharma Assembly in Sertar county, Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan province, China, 31 October 2015Kevin Frayer, Canada, 2015, Getty Images
Daily Life, 3rd prize stories: Sebastián Liste – Citizen Journalism in Brazil's favelas
A group of friends from Alemão, a slum in Rio de Janeiro, formed a media collective called Papo Reto, or "straight talk". Social media allows them to report stories from their community otherwise ignored by traditional media.
Papo Reto collective members at Complexo do Alemao with a cableway station and cab in their back; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 8 February 2015Sebastián Liste, Spain, 2015, NoorPapo Reto collective members taking pictures and videos of the Special Police Forces tank car patrolling in the streets of Vila Aliança after a taxi driver was shot by police; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 8 February 2015Sebastián Liste, Spain, 2015, Noor
People, singles:
People, 1st prize singles: Waiting to Register. A child is covered with a raincoat while she waits in line to register at a refugee camp in Preševo, Serbia, 7 October 2015Matic Zorman, Slovenia, 2015People, 2nd prize singles: Digging the Future. A mine worker takes a smoke break before going back into the pit. Miners in Bani face harsh conditions and exposure to toxic chemicals and heavy metals. Image taken in Bani, Burkina Faso, on 20 November 2015.Matjaz Krivic, Slovenia, 2015People, 3rd prize singles: Lost Family Portraits. Portrait of a Syrian refugee family in a camp in Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, on 15 December 2015. The empty chair in the photograph represents a family member who has either died in the war or whose whereabouts are unknownDario Mitidieri, Italy, 2015
People, 1st prize stories: Kazuma Obara – Exposure
The world's worst nuclear accident happened on 26 April 1986 at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Just 5 months after the disaster, a girl was born in Kiev just 100 km south from Chernobyl. The wind included a great amount of radioactive elements, and the girl became one of the victims of the tragedy. This series of pictures represent the last 30 years of the life of that invisible girl. All pictures taken on old Ukrainian colour negative films, which were found in the city of Pripyat, located 5 km from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
"My mother said that it was a typically quiet day, warm and windy. She and my father opened the window and they felt completely safe on the day of the explosion, the 26th of April 1986." Kiev, Ukraine, 12 July 2015.Kazuma Obara, Japan, 2015"I was born just five months after the day of the explosion. I was a very sickly child and I remember feeling like something was wrong, not growing like a normal child. When I was born I was quickly admitted into the intensive care unit. I had cramps and I was very weak. Half of my childhood, I spent in hospital without receiving a diagnosis. I was treated for bronchitis, then pneumonia, and then neuroses," Slavutych, Ukraine, 15 July 2015Kazuma Obara, Japan, 2015
People, 2nd prize stories: Daniel Ochoa de Olza – La Maya Tradition
Young girls between the age of 7 and 11 are chosen every year as 'Maya' for the 'Las Mayas', a festival derived from pagan rites celebrating the arrival of spring, in the town of Colmenar Viejo, Spain. The girls are required to sit still for a couple of hours in a decorated altar.
Young girls between the age of 7 and 11 are chosen every year as 'Maya' for the 'Las Mayas', a festival derived from pagan rites celebrating the arrival of spring, in the town of Colmenar Viejo, Spain. The girls are required to sit still for a couple of hours in a decorated altarDaniel Ochoa de Olza, Spain, 2015, The Associated PressYoung girls between the age of 7 and 11 are chosen every year as 'Maya' for the 'Las Mayas', a festival derived from pagan rites celebrating the arrival of spring, in the town of Colmenar Viejo, Spain. The girls are required to sit still for a couple of hours in a decorated altarDaniel Ochoa de Olza, Spain, 2015, The Associated Press
Nature, singles:
Nature, 1st prize singles: Storm Front on Bondi Beach. A massive 'cloud tsunami' looms over Sydney as a sunbather reads, oblivious to the approaching cloud on Bondi Beach, Sydney, Australia on 6 November 2015Rohan Kelly, Australia, 2015, Daily TelegraphNature, 2nd prize singles: Whale Whisperers. Divers observe and surround a humpback whale and her newborn calf whilst they swim around Roca Partida in the Revillagigedo Islands, Mexico, 28 January 2015Anuar Patjane Floriuk, Mexico, 2015Nature, 3rd prize singles: The Power of Nature. Colima Volcano in Mexico shows a powerful night explosion with lightning, ballistic projectiles and incandescent rockfalls; image taken in the Comala municipality in Colima, Mexico, 13 December 2015Sergio Tapiro, Mexico, 2015
Nature, 1st prize stories: Tim Laman – Tough Times for Orangutans The lives of wild orangutans are brought to light. Threats to these orangutans from fires, the illegal animal trade and loss of habitat due to deforestation have resulted in many orphan orangutans ending up at rehabilitation centres.
A veterinarian from International Animal Rescue carries a Bornean orangutan baby from a house where it was kept illegally as a pet in the village of Sungai Besar, West Kalimantan Province, Indonesia, 27 July 2015Tim Laman, USA, 2015A Bornean orangutan climbs over 30 metres up a tree in the rain forest of Gunung Palung National Park, West Kalimantan, Indonesia, 12 August 2015Tim Laman, USA, 2015
Nature, 2nd prize stories: Brent Stirton – Ivory Wars Series portraying the armed groups that profit most from the illegal ivory trade and the people at the frontline of the war against them, as well as others affected. In the case of the specific armed groups, the sale of ivory benefits the Lord's Resistance Army, The Seleka Rebels of Central African Republic, the Janjaweed of Sudan and the F.D.L.R rebels who base themselves inside Virunga National Park in the DRC.
A Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) fighter holds two ivory tusks. Ivory is a means of financing the LRA and is used for both food and weapon supplies. Near, Sudan, 17 November 2014Brent Stirton, South Africa, 2015, Getty Images for National GeographicRangers exhibit their riding skills as they return to Zakouma National Park after weeks on elephant patrol. Zakouma, Chad, 7 January 2015Brent Stirton, South Africa, 2015, Getty Images for National Geographic
Nature, 3rd prize stories: Christian Ziegler – Chameleon Under Pressure
Madagascar holds more than half of the world's chameleon species; however, as a result of deforestation causing habitat loss, 50% of the chameleon species is endangered.
A Furcifer ambrensis female foraging for insects with extendable tongue; Montain d’Ambre, Madagascar, 29 November 2014Christian Ziegler, Germany, 2015, for National GeographicBrookesia decaryi male and female sit in perfect camouflage in the leaf litter of a dry forest in Ankarafantsika National Park, Madagascar, 26 November 2015Christian Ziegler, Germany, 2015, for National Geographic
Long-Term Projects, 1st prize: Mary F. Calvert – Sexual Assault in America's Military
Series portraying women who have been raped or sexually assaulted during their service with the US Armed Forces. At the moment, only one out of 10 reported sexual violence cases goes to trial and most military rape survivors are forced out of service. Victims suffer from the effects of Military Sexual Trauma, (MST), which include depression, substance abuse, paranoia and feelings of isolation. Images taken between 2013 and 2015.
Debra Filter joined the US Army in 1978 and went through boot camp at Fort Ord, Georgia. Debra and several other women recruits were raped at the party they were forced to attend upon graduation. Her PTSD festered and Debra eventually left the military with an honorable discharge. Though educated with a Masters Degree, she has been homeless for 10 years and has battled the VA for benefits for 30 years. She left Las Vegas when the VA pulled her benefits. She has been in and out of shelters in LA and now has a housing voucher for a studio apartment in Korea-town in Los Angeles, CA. Taken in Los Angeles, California, 29 November 2014Mary F. Calvert, USA, 2015Connie Sue Foss went to sleep after a Christmas party at her National Guard unit. When she awoke, she was tied down and a fellow guardsman had his hands around her throat as he raped her. “Don’t bother screaming, there’s only me in the building,” he said. She retreats into her own thoughts while her daughter hovers near the bathroom door of their apartment in Spring Hill, Florida, 5 January 2014.Mary F. Calvert, USA, 2015
Long-Term Projects, 2nd prize: Nancy Borowick – A Life in Death
A daughter photographs her own parents who were in parallel treatment for stage-four cancer, side by side. The project looks at love, life, and living, in the face of death. It honours their memory by focusing on their strength and love, both individually and together, and shares the story of their final chapters, within a year of each other.
Howie and Laurel Borowick sit next to the bathroom telephone as they receive the most recent news from their oncologist. New York, US, 8 March 2013.Nancy Borowick, USA, 2015Laurel no longer speaks. Matthew, her son, gives her a kiss on the forehead. New York, US, 3 December 2014Nancy Borowick, USA, 2015
Long-Term Projects, 3rd prize: David Guttenfelder – North Korea, Life in the Cult of Kim
Photographer documents urban and rural North Korea, capturing the daily life of its citizens, military events and ceremonies. North Korea has been one of the most isolated and least understood countries. Few outsiders have ever had a glimpse of the country and there have been very few independent photographs ever made there. The photographer negotiated unprecedented access and took more than 40 trips to North Korea. Images taken in North Korea between 25 February 2008 - 23 May 2015.
At dusk, the skyline of central Pyongyang, North Korea, 12 April 2011David Guttenfelder, USA, 2015A soldier, working as a guide, walks through a forest that is said to be a former camp site of the late North Korean leader Kim Il Sung; Mount Paektu, North Korea, 4 April 2012David Guttenfelder, USA, 2015
The prize-winning pictures will be presented in an exhibition visiting around 100 cities in about 45 countries over the course of the year, and will be seen by more than 3.5 million people worldwide. The first World Press Photo 16 exhibition opens in De Nieuwe Kerk, Amsterdam, on 16 April 2016. For more information about the exhibition in Amsterdam, please go to: www.worldpressphoto.org/exhibitions/2016-exhibition/amsterdam
