An Assassination in Turkey. Mevlüt Mert Altıntaş shouts after shooting Andrey Karlov, the Russian ambassador to Turkey, at an art gallery in Ankara, Turkey. Mevlüt Mert Altıntaş, a 22-year-old off-duty police officer, assassinated the Russian ambassador to Turkey, Andrey Karlov, at an art exhibition in Ankara, Turkey, on December 19, 2016. He wounded three other people before being killed by officers in a shootout. © Burhan Ozbilici, The Associated Press. World Press Photo of the Year & Spot News, First Prize, Stories
Taking A Stand In Baton Rouge. Lone activist Ieshia Evans stands her ground while offering her hands for arrest as she is charged by riot police during a protest against police brutality outside the Baton Rouge Police Department in Louisiana, USA, on July 9, 2016. Evans, a 28-year-old Pennsylvania nurse and mother of one, traveled to Baton Rouge to protest against the shooting of Alton Sterling. Sterling was a 37-year-old black man and father of five, who was shot at close range by two white police officers. The shooting, captured on a multitude of cell phone videos, aggravated the unrest coursing through the United States in previous years over the use of excessive force by police, particularly against black men © Jonathan Bachman, Reuters. Contemporary Issues, First Prize, Singles.
Cuba on the Edge of Change. Fidel Castro's funeral procession in Santa Clara, Cuba. Cuba declared nine days of mourning after Fidel Castro’s death, a period that culminated with his funeral. © Tomas Munita, for The New York Times. Daily Life, First Prize, Stories
Cuba on the Edge of Change. Members of the Ejercito Juvenil del Trabajo wait along the road to Santiago de Cuba at dawn for Fidel Castro’s caravan. Cuba declared nine days of mourning after Fidel Castro’s death, a period that culminated with his funeral. In December, days after Fidel Castro’s death, his ashes were taken into the countryside, on a route that retraced, in reverse, the steps of the revolution he led in 1959. Towns and villages along the route were emptied of residents as thousands tried to catch a glimpse of Castro’s remains. For many, the death of Fidel Castro felt like that of a father. In death, as in life, Fidel Castro demanded reverence. Cuba brims with life, a contrast drawn sharper amid its faded grandeur. From one end of the country to the other, thousands of Cubans waited to bid farewell to Fidel. © Tomas Munita, for The New York Times. Daily Life, First Prize, Stories
Cuba On The Edge Of Change. Trucks carried students home after the carriage carrying Fidel's ashes passed in Las Tunas Province, Cuba. Cuba declared nine days of mourning after Fidel Castro’s death, a period that culminated with his funeral. © Tomas Munita, for The New York Times. Daily Life, First Prize, Stories
Grand National Steeplechase. Jockey Nina Carberry flies off her horse, Sir Des Champs, as they fall at The Chair fence during the Grand National steeplechase, during day three of the Grand National Meeting at Aintree Racecourse on April 9 2016 in Liverpool, England. © Tom Jenkins, The Guardian. Sports, First Prize, Singles
The Libyan Migrant Trap. Two Nigerian refugees cry and embrace in a detention center for refugees in Surman, Libya, on August 17, 2016. The detention center houses hundreds of women escaping precarious conditions. Many claim they are regularly beaten or sexually assaulted, and receive insufficient amounts of food and water at the center. Most of these women were attempting to reach Europe by being smuggled across the Mediterranean in boats setting sail from neighboring Sabratah. © Daniel Etter. Contemporary Issues, Third Prize, Singles.
Standing Rock. Riot police clear marchers from a secondary road outside a Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) worker camp using rubber bullets, pepper spray, tasers and arrests. In other incidents they've employed militarized vehicles, water canons, tear gas and have been accused of using percussion grenades. For nearly 10 months, members of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and their allies camped out in opposition to the Dakota Access Pipeline crossing their territory and threatening their water supply. The estimated $3.78 billion project, backed by Energy Transfer Partners, is nearly complete, covering almost 1,172 miles. In military vehicles and body armor, police used tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets, and water cannons against the protesters, and have been accused of inhumane treatment of arrestees. © Amber Bracken. Contemporary Issues, First Prize, Stories
Standing Rock. A man is treated with milk of magnesia after being pepper sprayed by police at the blockade on highway 1806. White people have joined the camps in large numbers, often standing in front of indigenous protestors to shield them with their bodies © Amber Bracken. Contemporary Issues, First Prize, Stories
Standing Rock. Jesse Jaso, 12, enters the Unity Teepee, at the Sacred Stone Camp. The teepee is signed by camp supporters from all over North America and around the world. Oceti Sakowin, or the Seven Council Fires, is the true name of the great Sioux nation and refers to the coming together of the different factions of the tribe. Oglala, Cheyenne, Ut, Cree, Hopi and non-indigenous all are among the 200+ tribes represented in the camps and on the front lines. The last time there was a similar gathering was before the Battle of the Little Bighorn, 1876 © Amber Bracken, for Buzzfeed News. Contemporary Issues, First Prize, Stories
Isle of Salvation. The lessons at school stop for the whole harvest time of the potatoes, to which all children should attend. Maria and Alexandra in a moment of pause. The inhabitants of this secluded and silent community call it the "Isle of Salvation", hidden near a busy road that leads from Moscow to Yaroslavl, Russia. Founded in the early 1990s by an Orthodox priest, it is a unique spiritual, educational and cultural center that currently accommodates 300 boys and girls, many seen as social outcasts © Francesco Comello. Daily Life, Third Prize, Stories
Isle of Salvation. In order to enter the priesthood in the Orthodox religion you must first become a monk or get married. Vladimir marries Vittoria, both a few years before they attended the community. © Francesco Comello. Daily Life, Third Prize, Stories
Isle of Salvation. Blessing of the well water. © Francesco Comello. Daily Life, Third Prize, Stories
Out-of-the-way. A bear's skin is crucified on a house. It is the skin of the insomniac bear that came at night and ate the dogs, attacked people, and got into the house through the window. A married couple climbed the roof in panic and waited until the morning to neutralize the beast. They waited until morning because it is pitch-dark at night. There is only electricity in this settlement for 14 hours a day, in the morning and the evening. There is no central power supply service, only a small diesel-driven station. In Russia’s extreme north, century-long ways of life dominate the daily life of some of the most isolated parts of the desolate landscape. Modern civilization penetrates slowly and fragmentarily. There are no roads, and only one helicopter shuttle twice monthly. The residents’ ancestors can be traced back to hereditary hunters in a small settlement near Nizhnyaya Tunguska River, Russia, more than 300 years ago. © Elena Anosova. Daily Life, Second Prize, Stories
Out-of-the-way. Modern civilization penetrates slowly and fragmentarily. It is intricately woven into the local way of life.
© Elena Anosova. Daily Life, Second Prize, Stories
Out-of-the-way. All people are hereditary hunters in this small settlement near Nizhnyaya Tunguska River. © Elena Anosova. Daily Life, Second Prize, Stories
The Silent Victims of a Forgotten War. At the hospital, Najiba holds her two-year-old nephew Shabir who was injured from a bomb blast in Kabul on March 29, 2016. Afghanistan has endured armed conflict since 1979, when the Soviet Union invaded. Afghan civilians are at greater risk today than at any time since Taliban rule, which ended in 2001. According to UN statistics, in the first half of 2016 at least 1,600 people died, and more than 3,500 people were injured. Despite billions of dollars spent by the international community to stabilize the country, Afghanistan has seen little improvement in terms of overall stability and human security.
© Paula Bronstein, for Time Lightbox / Pulitzer Center For Crisis Reporting. Daily Life, First Prize, Singles
Copacabana Palace. A pastor, who also lives in the occupied buildings, explains all the construction problems. A couple of weeks ago, the hall floors from a building crashed down at night. Fortunately everybody was sleeping and nothing serious happened. Most of the buildings are exposed to corrosion. “Copacabana Palace”, an ironically named series of condominiums in Brazil, houses more than 300 homeless families. Built more than 30 years ago, construction on this complex was never finished and has since become squatted. A lack of fresh water, electricity, or a working sewage system means residents here often face serious health problems. Most of the people here come from favela communities, some of whom may have been offered social housing as part of governmental rehousing schemes that they don't feel safe enough to occupy due to the presence of drug-gang families. According to official statistics from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, it is estimated that there are 1.8 million homeless people in Brazil. © Peter Bauza. Contemporary Issues - Third Prize, Stories
Copacabana Palace. Edilane and three of her seven children (at the time the photo was taken) rest on a mattress on the floor. She will soon give birth to a son. Despite all her problems and struggles on how to feed her kids, she is still positive about her life. Recently she was able to build up a very small and basic Internet store inside the buildings. Out of approximately 10 old computers, she can make one for the store. This represents some $5 daily. © Peter Bauza. Contemporary Issues, Third Prize, Stories
Copacabana Palace. Domingo, from Angola, came several years ago to Brazil in search for a better life. © Peter Bauza. Contemporary Issues, Third Prize, Stories
Victims Of The Zika Virus. Marcela (2) observes her sisters in her mother's lap at the family's home in the rural area of Areia. Twin sisters Heloisa (left) and Heloá (right) were born seven months prior with microcephaly caused by the Zika virus. In September 2015, babies in Brazil began to be born with microcephaly and other malformations, and in April 2016 the link between the Zika virus and these malformations was confirmed. © Lalo de Almeida, for Folha de São Paulo. Contemporary Issues, Second Prize, Stories
Victims Of The Zika Virus. Adriana Cordeiro Soares, 30, bathes her son João Miguel, 3 months old, who was born with microcephaly caused by the Zika virus, in her house in the rural area of São Vicente do Seridó. Northeastern Brazil, where most of the Zika cases of microcephaly were reported, is one of the poorest regions in the country, and lacks an adequate health system. Many children with microcephaly often live hundreds of kilometers away from the nearest health center and spend hours traveling in order to receive medical and physical therapy. Most come from poor households and receive little governmental support.© Lalo de Almeida, for Folha de São Paulo. Contemporary Issues, Second Prize, Stories
Black Days Of Ukraine. Civilians escape from a fire at a house destroyed by an air attack in the Luhanskaya village. Ordinary people became victims of the conflict between self-proclaimed republics and the official Ukrainian authorities from 2014 onwards in the region of Donbass. Disaster came into their lives unexpectedly. These people were involved in the military confrontation against their will. They experienced the most terrible things: the death of their friends and relatives, destroyed homes and the ruined lives of thousands of people. © Valery Melnikov, Rossiya Segodnya. Long-Term Projects, First Prize
Black Days Of Ukraine. Citizens in the village of Luhanskaya after the air attack. © Valery Melnikov, Rossiya Segodnya.
Long-Term Projects, First Prize
Black Days Of Ukraine. A boy in the basement of the destroyed school. Every night, thousands of people living on the frontlines go underground to survive until morning. © Valery Melnikov, Rossiya Segodnya. Long-Term Projects, First Prize
Black Days of Ukraine. Man watering flowers on a street in the destroyed village of Spartak. © Valery Melnikov, Rossiya Segodnya.
Long-Term Projects, First Prize
Fidelity. A woman strokes a girl’s head as she rests on her lap whilst sitting on a sofa in a police station in Camaguey, Cuba, on February 12, 2016, with a portrait of Fidel Castro hanging above them. Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who governed the Republic of Cuba as prime minister from 1959 to 1976 and then as president from 1976 to 2008.
© Kristina Kormilitsyna, Kommersant Newspaper. People, Third Prize, Singles.
Sweat Makes Champions. Four students of a gymnastics school in Xuzhou, China, do toe-pressure training for 30 minutes in the afternoon. © Tiejun Wang. Daily Life, Second Prize, Singles
Offensive On Mosul. The Iraqi Special Operations Forces search houses of Gogjali, an eastern district of Mosul, looking for Daesh members, equipment, and evidence on November 2, 2016. The Iraqi Special Operations Forces, also known as the Golden Division, is the Iraqi unit that leads the fight against the Islamic State with the support of the airstrikes of the Coalition Forces. They were the first forces to enter the Islamic State-held city of Mosul in November 2016. © Laurent van der Stockt, Getty Reportage for Le Monde. General News, First Prize, Singles
Iraq's Battle To Reclaim Its Cities. A boy holds the body of his father, killed by the Islamic State, as he arrived at a field hospital on the outskirts of Mosul, Iraq. More than two years after the Islamic State first blitzed across Iraq in 2014, Iraqi security forces are scrambling to evict the militant group from Mosul, its last major stronghold in the country. The campaign has displaced nearly 70,000 Iraqis, and may uproot hundreds of thousands more. With an escalating number of civilians caught up in the battle, some military officials are second-guessing their initial strategy. © Sergey Ponomarev, for The New York Times. General News, Second Prize, Stories
Iraq's Battle To Reclaim Its Cities. Residents of Mosul flee the city amid fighting between Iraqi forces and the Islamic State in Mosul, Iraq. © Sergey Ponomarev, for The New York Times. General News, Second Prize, Stories
We Are Not Taking Any Prisoners. Soon after he surrendered, an ISIS fighter is violently dragged by Libyan fighters affiliated with the government in Tripoli while they shout and threaten to lynch him on December 5, 2016. A few minutes later, he was found in the same place, shot dead. Sirte, Libya, is one of the three self-proclaimed capitals of the so-called Islamic State, along with Raqqa in Syria and Mosul in Iraq. It was the first of the three to fall, with an offensive launched by the Libyan government in May 2016. It took seven months of fighting, 500 American airstrikes, the lives of 700 Libyan soldiers and more than 3,000 injured Libyan soldiers to finally declare the city free. © Alessio Romenzi. General News, Third Prize, Stories
We Are Not Taking Any Prisoners. Fighters of the Libyan forces affiliated to the Tripoli government walk around the gigantic chandelier of the conference room in Ouagadougou Congress Complex. © Alessio Romenzi. General News, Third Prize, Stories
We Are Not Taking Any Prisoners. A fighter of the Libyan forces affiliated to the Tripoli government carries a comrade who was seriously injured just seconds before by a booby trap placed by Islamic State fighters. © Alessio Romenzi. General News, Third Prize, Stories
What ISIS Left Behind. Five-year-old Maha and her family fled from the village Hawija outside Mosul, Iraq, seven days ago. The fear of so-called Islamic State and the lack of food forced them to leave their home, her mother says. Now Maha lays on a dirty mattress in the overcrowded transit center in Debaga’s refugee camp. “I do not dream and I'm not afraid of anything anymore,” Maha says quietly while her mother's hand strokes her hair. After two years under Islamic State control, Iraqi and Kurdish troops launched an operation in October 2016 to retake Iraq's second largest city and last IS stronghold in the country: Mosul. This was a task that would prove far more difficult than anyone imagined. © Magnus Wennman, Aftonbladet. People, First Prize, Singles
Migrant Crossing. A woman is supported by two men while crossing a river, as refugees attempt to reach Macedonia on a route that would bypass the border fence, on March 14, 2016. Hundreds of refugees walked out of an overcrowded camp on the Greek-Macedonian border on this day, shortly after the closure of Macedonia's borders, determined to head north despite the dangers of the crossing. © Vadim Ghirda, The Associated Press. Contemporary Issues, Second Prize, Singles
Left Alone. An 11-year-old girl from Nigeria (left), who said her mother died in Libya, cries next to her 10-year-old brother aboard an NGO rescue boat, on July 28, 2016. The children had sailed for hours in an overcrowded rubber boat with other refugees during a rescue operation on the Mediterranean Sea, about 23 kilometers north of Sabratha, Libya. Libyan smugglers often take advantage of refugees, charging anywhere from $750 to $3500 for a place on typically dangerous boats they say are heading to Italy. © Santi Palacios. General News, Second Prize, Singles
Life Inside the Philippines' Most Overcrowded Jail. The photos show scenes from Quezon City Jail, one of the Philippines' most overcrowded prisons. Conditions are getting worse as police wage an unprecedented war on crime. There are 3,800 inmates at the jail, which was built six decades ago to house 800, and they engage in a relentless contest for space. Men take turns to sleep on the cracked cement floor of an open-air basketball court, the steps of staircases, underneath beds and hammocks made out of old blankets. © Noel Celis, Agence France-Presse. General News, Third Prize, Singles
They Are Slaughtering Us Like Animals. Six-year-old Jimji cries in anguish as she screams "papa" before funeral parlor workers move the body of her father, Jimboy Bolasa, from the wake at the start of the funeral to Navotas Cemetery in Manila, Philippines. Unidentified men abducted Mr. Bolasa and a neighborhood friend one night. Less than an hour later, their beaten bodies, with signs of torture and gunshot wounds, were dumped under a nearby bridge. The police claim the men were alleged drug dealers while their family members say they had only surrendered themselves. President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines began his anti-drug campaign when he took office on June 30, 2016. Since then, more than 2,000 people have been slain at the hands of the police alone. Beyond those killed in official drug operations, the Philippine National Police have counted more than 3,500 unsolved homicides since July 1. The victims, suspected users and pushers, are not afforded any semblance of due process. © Daniel Berehulak, for The New York Times. General News, First Prize, Stories
They Are Slaughtering Us Like Animals. Heavy rain pours as police operatives investigate inside an alley where a victim, Romeo Joel Torres Fontanilla (37) was killed by two unidentified gunmen riding motorcycles in the early morning in Manila, Philippines. © Daniel Berehulak, for The New York Times. General News, First Prize, Stories
They Are Slaughtering Us Like Animals. Inmates watch as drug suspects are processed inside a police station in Manila, Philippines. © Daniel Berehulak, for The New York Times. General News, First Prize, Stories
They Are Slaughtering Us Like Animals. Funeral parlor workers carry away the body of Edwin Mendoza Alon-Alon (36) who was killed by an unknown gunman on the road in front of a 7-Eleven store in Manila, Philippines. © Daniel Berehulak, for The New York Times. General News, First Prize, Stories
China’s Wild West. A Uyghur woman carries money in her stockings, a common practice. Uygur women, while Muslim, typically do not adhere to the conservative dress code that women in neighboring countries follow. On this train from Kashgar, you see a lesser known side of China. Most of the passengers are Uygur, a Chinese minority who live mostly in the west. One of the longest train journeys in the world—2,910 miles (4,683 kilometers)—runs across China from Hong Kong to Urumqi, made up of 18 wagons, traveling over 160 kilometers per hour, and taking over five hours to complete its journey. China is transformed with every mile, from verdant jungle and arid steppe to the Taklamakan desert, the second largest shifting-sand desert in the world in the Southern branch of the Silk Road, China. © Matthieu Paley, for National Geographic Magazine. Daily Life, Third Prize, Singles
Battle For Mosul. A car bomb explodes next to Iraqi special forces armored vehicles as they advance towards Islamic State-held territory in Mosul, Iraq, on November 16, 2016. The Iraqi Special Operations Forces, also known as the Golden Division, is the Iraqi unit that leads the fight against the Islamic State with the support of the airstrikes of the Coalition Forces. They were the first forces to enter the Islamic State-held city of Mosul in November 2016. © Felipe Dana, The Associated Press. Spot News, Third Prize, Singles
Pakistan Bomb Blast. Lawyers help their injured colleagues after a bomb explosion in Quetta, Pakistan, on August 8, 2016. Seventy people were killed when a bomb exploded outside a civil hospital where a crowd of lawyers and journalists had gathered to mourn Bilal Anwar Kasi, a senior lawyer who had been assassinated hours earlier. © Jamal Taraqai, European Pressphoto Agency. Spot News, First Prize, Singles
Praying for a miracle: mental health problems in disabling environments in Africa. Hellen (41) lives with a mental health problem. Her illness developed later in life. In developing countries, over 80 percent of people living with mental health problems do not receive any treatment. In African countries, treatment often comes in the form of prayer from a pastor or traditional healer. Modern medicine is available to very few. A mental health problem often means relegation to the margins of society; life in mental health facilities often doing more harm than good, and coming attached with crippling social stigma. Cultural beliefs and associations that link mental disorders to witchcraft are deeply rooted in some communities. © Robin Hammond, NOOR Images for Witness Change. People, Second Prize, Singles
An Iranian Journey. A Muslim taxi driver prays on the sidewalk while Tara and Soroush, two Iranian students who live downtown, celebrate their wedding day. More than 60 percent of Iran's people are under the age of 30 and have little knowledge of their country before its transformation into a theocratic state. At the same time, they experience all the usual trappings of youth and modernity that are increasingly being beamed into homes via the internet and satellite TV stations, as yet still illegal. The photos deal with the complexity of Iran's society, lifting the veil on some of the less-observed areas of daily life. They show the conflicts that arise between the “official” version of Iranian life promoted by the authorities, and the reality of daily life for Iran's youth which are struggling to find an identity in a fast-moving, ever-changing world. The photographer traveled across Iran for more than a decade, meeting and convincing hundreds of individuals to portray their lives. © Hossein Fatemi, Panos Pictures. Long-Term Projects, Second Prize
An Iranian Journey. Women play pool in a gym that is forbidden for women. © Hossein Fatemi, Panos Pictures. Long-Term Projects, Second Prize
An Iranian Journey. The female members of a family at their home, where even the youngest girl wears a chador. © Hossein Fatemi, Panos Pictures. Long-Term Projects, Second Prize
An Iranian Journey. Clerics leaving a mosque in city of Qom. © Hossein Fatemi, Panos Pictures. Long-Term Projects, Second Prize
An Iranian Journey. Serial killer Mohammad Bijeh, who was convicted of kidnapping and murdering 21 people, most of them children, is hauled into the air hanging from the arm of a crane after his execution on March 16, 2005. Bijeh, branded 'the vampire of the desert' in Iran, was lashed 100 times and hanged before thousands of spectators. © Hossein Fatemi, Panos Pictures. Long-Term Projects, Second Prize
Table Rock Nebraska. Cheerleaders Melissa Bernadt and Jennifer Burnedt prepare for the evening’s homecoming game. Table Rock is a small rural community in Nebraska, USA, which is shown from 1992 until March 2016. It hasn't really changed over the years. It's a place where nothing happens. Most people living in Table Rock spend their whole lives there. Some try living in bigger towns, but often return to raise their children in their hometown, where they feel safe and secure. © Markus Jokela, Helsingin Sanomat. Long-Term Projects, Third Prize
Table Rock Nebraska. Libby and Arnold Kalina watch as the Speers family’s house is moved to a new location in September 1992. © Markus Jokela, Helsingin Sanomat. Long-Term Projects, Third Prize
Table Rock Nebraska. A Lutheran cemetery outside Table Rock on Memorial Day. © Markus Jokela, Helsingin Sanomat. Long-Term Projects, Third Prize
Table Rock Nebraska. Kelly Freeman arrives at her wedding reception in Dubois, Kansas.© Markus Jokela, Helsingin Sanomat. Long-Term Projects, Third Prize
Enfarinat. On December 28 each year, the “Floured War" takes place in Ibi in the province of Alicante, Spain. During the festival, the citizens are divided into two groups: the "Enfarinat" (the floured) group simulates a coup d'etat and a second group tries to calm the rebellion. The teams play with flour, water, eggs and colored smoke bombs. The 200-year-old tradition is known as “Els Enfarinats,” marking the biblical Massacre of the Innocents by King Herod. © Antonio Gibotta, Agenzia Controluce. People, Second Prize, Stories
"El Enfarinats" © Antonio Gibotta, Agenzia Controluce. People, Second Prize, Stories
Medics Assist a Wounded Girl. A Syrian girl cries out as a wounded child lies next to her at a makeshift hospital on September 12, 2016. She had been injured in reported government airstrikes on the rebel-held town of Douma, east of Damascus, Syria. © Abd Doumany, Agence France-Presse. Spot News, Second Prize, Singles
Rescued from the Rubble. A Syrian man evacuates an area following a reported airstrike in the rebel-held neighborhood of Hayy Aqyul in Aleppo. Air strikes on rebel-held neighborhoods in Aleppo killed at least 14 civilians and wounded more than a dozen others, according to the local civil defense. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said regime warplanes carried out the airstrikes and gave a toll of 10 dead. Since 2012, Syria’s northern city of Aleppo has been divided between rebel and regime-held districts, but a devastating regime offensive launched in mid-October saw the rebels ousted from their iconic former stronghold. The army’s victory in Aleppo was marked by heavy shelling which destroyed all established hospitals in the area and much of the city was reduced to a wasteland by air and artillery attacks. © Ameer Alhalbi, Agence France-Presse. Spot News, Second Prize, Stories
Rescued from the Rubble. Syrian men carrying babies make their way through the rubble of destroyed buildings following a reported airstrike on the rebel-held Salihin neighborhood of Aleppo on September 11 2016. Airstrikes have killed dozens in rebel-held parts of Syria as the opposition considers whether to join a US-Russia truce deal due to take effect on September 12. © Ameer Alhalbi, Agence France-Presse. Spot News, Second Prize, Stories
Mediterranean Migration. Eritrean migrants seen cramped in the hold of a large wooden boat which carried approximately 540 men, women, and children. The central Mediterranean migration route, between the coasts of Libya and Italy, remains busy. According to reports by the UNHCR, 5,000 people died while attempting to cross the Mediterranean in 2016. NGOs and charities such as Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) continue their efforts to patrol the patch of sea north of the Libyan coast, in the hope of rescuing refugees before the potential of drowning. The rescue team on board the MOAS’ Responder are there to mitigate loss of life at sea. Operating like a sea-born ambulance, they rush to assist and rescue refugee vessels in distress, provide medical assistance, and bring the refugees safely to Italy. © Mathieu Willcocks. Spot News, Third Prize, Stories
Mediterranean Migration. Two men panic and struggle in the water during their rescue. Their rubber boat was in distress and deflating quickly on one side, tipping many migrants in the water. They were quickly reached by rescue swimmers and brought to safety. © Mathieu Willcocks. Spot News, Third Prize, Stories
Mediterranean Migration. Libyan fishermen throw a life jacket at a rubber boat full of migrants. Migrants are very often not given any life jackets or means of communication by their smugglers. More often than not they only have some water, food and not enough fuel to make it to Italy. © Mathieu Willcocks. Spot News, Third Prize, Stories
Mediterranean Migration. The body of a migrant is found floating at sea. Red Cross medical staff onboard the Responder estimated he had been at sea for at least four days. © Mathieu Willcocks. Spot News, Third Prize, Stories
Caretta Caretta Trapped. A sea turtle entangled in a fishing net swims off the coast of Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, on 8 June 2016. Sea turtles are considered a vulnerable species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Unattended fishing gear is responsible for many sea turtle deaths © Francis Pérez. Nature, First Prize, Singles
Big Cat In My Backyard! A wild leopard strolls through Sanjay Gandhi National Park, a protected area in the northern part of Mumbai city, India, on September 24, 2016. The leopard is on its nocturnal prowl in the adjacent human settlements in search of food, which in these areas is typically dogs or pigs. © Nayan Khanolkar. Nature, Second Prize, Singles
Monarchs In The Snow. A carpet of monarch butterflies covers the forest floor of El Rosario Butterfly Sanctuary, in Michoacán, Mexico, on March 12, after a strong snow storm hit from March 8 to 9, 2016. The storm hit the mountains of Central Mexico, creating havoc in the wintering colonies of monarch butterflies just as they were starting their migration back north to the USA and Canada. Climate change is creating an increase of these unusual weather events, representing one of the biggest challenges for these actually resilient insects during their hibernation. © Jaime Rojo. Nature, Third Prize, Singles
Rhino Wars. A black rhino bull is seen dead, poached for its horns less than 8 hours earlier at Hluhluwe Umfolozi Game Reserve, South Africa. It is suspected that the killers came from a local community approximately 5 kilometers away, entering the park illegally, shooting the rhino at a water hole with a high-powered, silenced hunting rifle. An autopsy and postmortem carried out by members of the KZN Ezemvelo ranger team later revealed that the large caliber bullet went straight through this rhino, causing massive tissue damage. It was noted that he did not die immediately, but ran a short distance, fell to his knees and a coup de grâce shot was administered to the head from close range. Inside Kruger National Park, the largest rhinoceros reserve in the world, along the border of Mozambique and South Africa, there exists a battle between poachers and small NGOs trying to protect this rare species. After crossing the border into Mozambique, the life expectancy for a rhinoceros is 24 hours. It is an environmental crisis, caused by Asia's upper class hunger for the horn, which is worth more than gold. The horn is part of an ancient Asian medical system and today is seen as a cure for everything from cancer to kidney stones. Essentially keratin, a mild alkaline substance identical to fingernails, the horn is ground down and then ingested by the sick and the wealthy of Vietnam and China, The imbiber hopes for a miracle cure, but science has shown that it has a placebo effect at best. In South Africa, with so-called “Rhino Ranches”, such as that of millionaire John Hume who owns 1,500 rhinoceroses worth over $50 million in horn, the job of protecting the rhinoceros is increasingly dangerous and politicized. © Brent Stirton, Getty Images for National Geographic Magazine. Nature, First Prize, Stories
Rhino Wars. Two rhino poachers, one 19, the other 28 years old, apprehended by an anti-poaching team in Mozambique close to Kruger National Park border. They are seen waiting to be processed in the local jail. After a three-day chase, they were caught in a roadblock and the rifle seized shortly thereafter. This was due to a coordinated effort between Kruger National Park in South Africa where the poachers intended to shoot rhino for their horn; and Sabi Game Park, a conservancy on the Mozambique side. The poachers were tracked and identified by their unique shoe pattern. They tried to say they had been on their way to buy cattle, but had no money on their persons, and when asked the alleged cattle owner said he did not know anything about selling his cattle. A Czech CZ .458 hunting rifle was seized, complete with a professionally built silencer. Both men admitted their guilt and will be charged under new Mozambican law which states that possession of the weapon and bullets indicates intent to poach rhino. This carries a maximum sentence of 12 years and/or $80,000.00. Their Toyota Hilux vehicle was also confiscated. The younger of the two poachers later led police to the homes of suspected weapons and transport suppliers, higher-ups in the rhino poaching syndicates known as level 2's and 3's. Those men had fled by the time the police arrived, but significant information was discovered in the form of identity documents, both real and forged, as well as banking account information. © Brent Stirton, Getty Images for National Geographic Magazine. Nature, First Prize, Stories
Rhino Wars. Care For Wild Africa is a donor-run organization that specializes in caring for wounded animals. They have a special focus on rhino and have taken in many rhino orphans from the poaching wars across South Africa at this time. Their latest orphan is Lulah, her mother was killed in Kruger National Park and when the rangers found her she was estimated to be one month old. Hyenas had attacked the tiny calf and chewed off her ears and parts of her nose, as well as a big bite off of her rear right leg. Lulah has a strong will to live and, despite fighting off infection in the wound, she is looking like she will survive. Lulah has a full-time caregiver, Dorota Ladosz, who is full-time staff. Dorota has an honors degree in both Animal Science and Wildlife Management. She lives full-time with Lulah at the time of this picture and sleeps with her in her enclosure. She maintains a constant watch on Lulah’s injuries and her temperature and feeds her at regular intervals. Lulah received surgery on this day and her wounds were cleaned out by Jan-Louis Ras, a surgeon who volunteers his services to Care for Wild Africa but actually usually works on humans. Infections in Lulah’s leg were cleaned out and her ears and the top of her head were dressed and disinfected. Care for Wild Africa has taken care of multiple rhino calves like this and today they have 27 survivors living on the property. Paying for their upkeep and their security is difficult. © Brent Stirton, Getty Images for National Geographic Magazine. Nature, First Prize, Stories
Pandas Gone Wild. Seven-year-old giant panda Min Min had a baby girl at Bifengxia Giant Panda Breeding and Research Center in Sichuan Province, China. It was three long days and nights of waiting for her to give birth and the vets thought it was likely to be a still birth. A very healthy giant panda cub emerged with a loud scream. She is the largest cub born this year to first-time mother Min Min. Giant pandas are born tiny, blind and helpless. The limbs of newborn pandas are so weak that they are not able to stand and for the first two months baby pandas only nurse, sleep, and poo. They are weaned between 8-9 months and a year old. As conservation icons go, nothing quite beats the giant panda. Instantly recognizable worldwide and adored by billions, the giant panda is a virtual brand whose resemblance to anything wild is as tenuous as it is rare. Like many endangered species, giant pandas have declined as a growing human population has seized wild lands for human uses. The Chinese have spent the past quarter of a century perfecting breeding methods, building a captive population and protecting habitat. The giant panda was recently taken off the world endangered species list—a minor miracle, due to the unique efforts of Chinese zoologists and conservationists. © Ami Vitale, for National Geographic Magazine. Nature, Second Prize, Stories
Pandas Gone Wild. Caretaker Li Feng cradles her precious charge by the window of Bifengxia’s panda nursery, the most popular stop for visitors touring the facilities. More than 400,000 people visit each year to glimpse and snap photos of China’s most beloved baby animals. © Ami Vitale, for National Geographic Magazine. Nature, Second Prize, Stories
Pandas Gone Wild. In a large forested enclosure of the Wolong Reserve, panda keepers Ma Li and Liu Xiaoqiang listen for radio signals from a collared panda training to be released to the wild. Tracking can tell them how the cub is faring in the rougher terrain up the mountain. © Ami Vitale, for National Geographic Magazine. Nature, Second Prize, Stories
Now You See Me. Buffalos at the drinking station. These photos combine a well-known natural phenomenon: the starry sky and portraits of wild animals not visible to the naked eye. The series needed very accurate planning, research and preparation as the photos were made with remote control, and no modification was possible while capturing the photos. © Bence Máté. Nature, Third Prize, Stories
Now You See Me. These photos combine a well-known natural phenomenon: the starry sky and portraits of wild animals not visible to the naked eye. The series needed very accurate planning, research and preparation as the photos were made with remote control, and no modification was possible while capturing the photos. © Bence Máté. Nature, Third Prize, Stories
Now You See Me. African Elephant under the starry sky. © Bence Máté. Nature, Third Prize, Stories
Now You See Me. Fallow deer walk in the silence of the night. © Bence Máté. Nature, Third Prize, Stories
Aenikkaeng. Young Korean-Mayan descendants during the 90th birthday party of Joaquin Poot Lee, a second generation Korean-Mayan. Since most Korean migrants were men, they inevitably married local Mayan women. As a consequence, most descendants of Koreans in Mexico are Korean-Mayans. Taken from stories told by the descendants of Korean henequen workers in Mexico and Cuba, this project aims to provide a poetic account of their memories. In 1905, more than 1,000 Koreans traveled to Mexico under the false promise of prosperity in a paradisiac land. Instead, they arrived at henequen plantations. They were sold off as indentured slaves to harvest agave that was then known as "the green gold" of Mexico. Individuals were beaten if they fell behind their daily quota, and forced to work long hours under the scorching sun and the suffocating humidity of Yucatan. © Michael Vince Kim. People, First Prize, Stories
Aenikkaeng. Port of Progreso, where Koreans first arrived in the Yucatan peninsula. Their final stop was Merida, where they were sold off to the highest bidders as slaves. © Michael Vince Kim. People, First Prize, Stories
Aenikkaeng. Sisters Olga and Adelina Lim Hi, one of the few Korean descendants who do not have mixed heritage. Their grandfather was Im Cheon Taek, one of the leading figures of the earliest Korean community in Cuba. © Michael Vince Kim. People, First Prize, Stories
Olympians. Christen Press, a forward with the Women's National Team, will compete at the 2016 Rio Olympics and is photographed at Chadwick School, where she is an alumni, in Palos Verdes, California. A series of portraits of Olympic athletes from California headed to the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The USA took more than 550 athletes to compete in 20 sports of the Summer Games. © Jay Clendenin, Los Angeles Times. People, Third Prize, Stories
Olympians. Carlos Balderas will compete as a lightweight/132 lbs boxer in the 2016 Rio Olympics and is photographed in his family gym in Santa Maria, California. © Jay Clendenin, Los Angeles Times. People, Third Prize, Stories
Olympians. Folau Niua, Danny Berret, Martin Iosefo, and Garrett Bender will be part of the men's sevens US rugby team at the 2016 Rio Olympics and are photographed at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, California. © Jay Clendenin, Los Angeles Times. People, Third Prize, Stories
Boys Will be Boys. The New York Gotham Knights players celebrate their Bingham Plate win over the London King's Cross Steelers on Sunday May 29, 2016 at the Ted Rhodes Park, in Nashville, Tennessee. New York edged London 14-12. The Gotham Knights were established back in 2001, after September 11, when Mark Bingham, the former gay rugby player after whom the cup is named, and New York Gotham Knights virtual founder, gave his life as a hero on board of the flight United 93. Muddy York Rugby Football Club looks at the Gotham Knights as a true model in terms of player development, growth and inclusiveness. © Giovanni Capriotti. Sports, First Prize, Stories
Boys Will Be Boys. Muddy York Rugby Football Club players Michael Smith, left, Devin McCarney, center, and Jean Paul Markides are photographed during a rehearsal for their performance at the annual team fundraiser drag show on Saturday, November 5, 2016 in Toronto, Ontario. Fundraisers, along with sponsorships, play a major role for the team's season budget. Each player pays an annual fee to the club that covers the uniforms, practice facilities and Rugby Ontario fees. Muddy York helps players who can't afford the payment, with an exemption. Gay athletes have somehow nearly always encountered resistance, controversy, discrimination, and often humiliation from the sports community. Stereotypes have typically, and falsely, defined the performance of the athletes as well as their suitability to a specific discipline. Discomfort in the locker room pushed a few of Toronto's gay rugby players to form the city’s first gay-friendly rugby team. Established in 2003, Muddy York RFC primarily competes against “straight” teams in the Toronto Rugby Union. The Muddy York team unconsciously started the process of describing and deconstructing the idea of performance within masculinity. © Giovanni Capriotti. Sports, First Prize, Stories
Boys Will Be Boys. Muddy York Rugby Football Club player Jean Paul Markides (left) kisses his partner and teammate Kasimir Kosakowski during the pride parade on Sunday, July 3, 2016 in Toronto, Ontario. The couple has been together for roughly two years. They joined Muddy York together one and a half years ago. Markides, out for the season due to an injury, is always around to support the team and his partner, and to take part in the club's social events. © Giovanni Capriotti. Sports, First Prize, Stories
Youth Chess Tournaments. The chess player concentrates just a few moments before the start of the next round of a tournament. Chess, for some, represents a world full of strong emotions, adrenaline and stress. This series focuses especially on the "youth" tournaments held across several cities in the Czech Republic in 2016. The youth tournaments aim to motivate young people, replacing electronic devices with real-world interpersonal communication and entertainment. © Michael Hanke. Sports, Second Prize, Stories
Youth Chess Tournaments. A chess player expresses his emotions during a game of chess. © Michael Hanke. Sports, Second Prize, Stories
Adaptive Athlete. With the aid of chains purchased at the hardware store and deadlift straps, Lindsay performs cleans under the watchful eye of her coach Jenny Jeffries. "It's been an important relationship for me," says Jeffries, who was admittedly affected by her mother's disabilities following a car accident. "How could it not—seeing Lindsay doing what she's been doing her whole life.". Lindsay Hilton, from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, can lift 100 pounds. Lindsay was born without arms and legs. She throws all of the weight around with the help of chains from a local hardware store, straps, and Velcro. Aside from weightlifting, Lindsay holds a passion for swimming, soccer, hockey and especially rugby. When asked what motivates her and whether or not she feels accomplished, Lindsay replies, “I don't feel like I've actually done anything because I don't want to be 'good for someone without arms and legs,' I want to be good." © Darren Calabrese. Sports, Third Prize, Stories
Adaptive Athlete. With the sink piled high with dishes, Lindsay stands on a step stool while making coffee for her and her boyfriend early in the morning in their home. © Darren Calabrese. Sports, Third Prize, Stories
Adaptive Athlete. Following her warmup, Lindsay lays on the gym floor before starting the day's heavyweight workout. © Darren Calabrese. Sports, Third Prize, Stories
The Dive. Gaël Monfils of France dives for a forehand in his fourth round match against Andrey Kuznetsov of Russia, during the 2016 Australian Open at Melbourne Park, Australia, on January 25, 2016. The Australian Open holds the record for the highest attendance at a Grand Slam event © Cameron Spencer, Getty Images. Sports, Second Prize, Singles
Rio's Golden Smile. Usain Bolt of Jamaica smiles as he looks back at his competition, whilst winning the 100-meter semi-final sprint, at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Bolt is regarded as the fastest human ever timed. He is the first person to hold both the 100-meter and 200-meter world records since fully automatic time became mandatory. © Kai Oliver Pfaffenbach, Thomson Reuters. Sports, Third Prize, Singles