57th World Press Photo Awards

Photographs by the winners of the 

2014 World Press Photo Awards

World Press Photo of the Year 2013. African migrants on the shore of Djibouti city at night, raising their phones in an attempt to capture an inexpensive signal from neighboring Somalia—a tenuous link to relatives abroad. Djibouti is a common stop-off point for migrants in transit seeking a better life in Europe and the Middle East © John Stanmeyer, USA, VII for National Geographic

1st Prize General News Single. Military Ramp, an emergency refugee center, was opened in September 2013 in an abandoned school in Sofia, Bulgaria. The center provides housing for about 800 Syrian refugees, including 390 children. Bulgaria is confronting a refugee crisis that it is totally unprepared to face © Alessandro Penso, Italy, OnOff Picture

2nd Prize General News Stories. Demonstrators gather on a street in Bangui to call for the resignation of interim President Michel Djotodia following the murder of Judge Modeste Martineau Bria by members of Seleka. The UN has warned of a potential slide into genocide and the conflict is ringing alarm bells across the continent and beyond © William Daniels, France, Panos Pictures for Time

1st Prize Spot News Single. Survivors of typhoon Haiyan march during a religious procession in Tolosa, on the eastern island of Leyte. One of the strongest cyclones ever recorded, Haiyan left 8,000 people dead and missing and more than four million homeless after it hit the central Philippines © Phillipe Lopez, France, Agence France-Presse

1st Prize Spot News Stories. Syrian rebel fighters take cover amid flying debris and shrapnel after being hit by a tank shell fired towards them by the Syrian Army in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus. After evacuating their comrade, who was shot in the chest and would later die from injuries, the rebels return to attack the checkpoint with rocket fire © Goran Tomasevic, Serbia, Reuters

2nd Prize Spot News Stories. A woman and children hiding in the Westgate mall. They escaped unharmed after gunmen had opened fire at the upscale Nairobi mall on 21 September 2013. At least 39 people were killed in one of the worst terrorist attacks in Kenya’s history © Tyler Hicks, USA, The New York Times

3rd Prize Contemporary Issues Single. Police arrive at a crime scene where two bodies hang from a bridge; another three are on the floor. They had been killed by organized crime in Saltillo, Coahuila, in retaliation against other criminal groups. Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico © Christopher Vanegas, Mexico, La Vanguardia / El Guardían

1st Prize Contemporary Issues Stories. As the fight continued to rage, Shane told Maggie that she could choose between getting beaten in the kitchen, or going with him to the basement so they could talk privately. Lancaster, US © Sara Naomi Lewkowicz, USA, for Time Magazine

1st Prize Daily Life Single. Kachin Independence Army fighters are drinking and celebrating at a funeral of one of their commanders who died the day before. The city is under siege by the Burmese army © Julius Schrank, Germany, De Volkskrant

1st Prize Daily Life Stories. Date found: 1 February 2013. Location: a sugar plantation in Apopa, El Salvador. Sex: Female. Age: Between 17 and 18 years old. The North Central American Triangle (Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador) is one of the most violent regions in the world. In many cases, clothes that are found become the only means of identification © Fred Ramos, El Salvador, El Faro

2nd Prize Sports Action Single. Competitor at a slalom contest in Szczyrk, Poland © Andrzej Grygiel, Poland, for PAP-Polska Agencja Prasowa

3rd Prize Sports Action Stories. Daniel Arnamnart of Australia competes in the men's 100-meter backstroke during day two of the Australian Swimming Championships on 27 April 2013 at SA Aquatic and Leisure Centre in Adelaide, Australia © Quinn Rooney, Australia, Getty Images

1st Prize Sports Feature Stories. Swedish athlete Nadja Casadei has participated in the World and European Championships in heptathlon. In autumn 2013, she was diagnosed with cancer and by January 2014, she had completed her chemotherapy. She has continued to train throughout her illness, hoping to be healthy and ready by the summer for the Rio Olympics © Peter Holgersson, Sweden

1st Prize People – Observed Portraits Single. A woman reacts in disappointment after access to see former South Africa President Nelson Mandela was closed on the third and final day of his casket lying in state, outside Union Buildings in Pretoria, South Africa © Markus Schreiber, Germany, The Associated Press

1st Prize People – Observed Portraits Stories. Hannah and Alena, two sisters living in the rural village of Merkenbrechts, Austria © Carla Kogelman, the Netherlands

1st Prize People – Staged Portraits Single. A group of blind albino boys photographed in their boarding room at the Vivekananda mission school for the blind in West Bengal, India. This is one of the very few schools for the blind in India today © Brent Stirton, South Africa, Reportage by Getty Images

2nd Prize People – Staged Portraits Stories. Ali, a young Egyptian bodybuilder, poses with his mother © Denis Dailleux, France, Agence Vu

3rd Prize Nature Stories. A 5-year-old bonobo, member of a wild group of bonobos near the Kokolopori Bonobo Reserve, in the DRC. Despite being humans’ closest living relatives, little is known about Bonobos and their behavior in the wild in remote parts of the Congo basin. Bonobos are threatened by habitat loss and bush meat trade © Christian Ziegler, Germany, for National Geographic Magazine

1st Prize Nature Stories. A cougar walking a trail in Los Angeles’ Griffith Park is captured by a camera trap. To reach the park, which has been the cougar’s home for the last two years it had to cross two of the busiest highways in the US. They are increasingly being seen in and around towns and cities, including Los Angeles and in the Hollywood Hills © Steve Winter, USA, for National Geographic

After looking at nearly 100,000 pictures, submitted from 132 nationalities and 5,700 photographers, World Press Photo announced the winners of their 2014 awards. The jury gave prizes in nine themed categories to 53 photographers.

LensCulture is pleased to present a full-screen slideshow of the winning photographs, including the World Press Photo of the Year and a variety of single images and portfolios.

The grand prize winning picture shows African migrants on the shore of Djibouti city at night, raising their phones in an attempt to capture an inexpensive signal from neighboring Somalia—a tenuous link to relatives abroad. Djibouti is a common stop-off point for migrants in transit from such countries as Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea, seeking a better life in Europe and the Middle East. The picture also won 1st Prize in the Contemporary Issues category, and was shot for National Geographic.

The jury had some interesting comments to make about the World Press Photo of the Year:

Jillian Edelstein, jury member from the UK/South Africa said:
It’s a photo that is connected to so many other stories—it opens up discussions about technology, globalization, migration, poverty, desperation, alienation, humanity. It’s a very sophisticated, powerfully nuanced image. It is so subtly done, so poetic, yet instilled with meaning, conveying issues of great gravity and concern in the world today.

Susan Linfield, jury member from the USA said:
What we’re looking for in the winning image is the same quality you would look for in a great film or in literature—the impression that it exists on more than one level, that it makes you think about things you haven’t thought about. You begin to explore the layers not only of what’s there, but of what isn’t there. So many pictures of migrants show them as bedraggled and pathetic…but this photo is not so much romantic, as dignified.

David Guttenfelder, jury member from the USA said:
The photo is like a message in a bottle, it is one that will last for all of us. People will bring their own life experiences to it as they stand in front of it.

Please enjoy the full-screen slideshow above. We hope you find as much inspiration in these globe-spanning images as we do!

— LensCulture

Editor's Note: The prize-winning pictures will be presented in an exhibition visiting more than 100 cities in over 45 countries. The first 2014 World Press Photo exhibition opens in Amsterdam in De Nieuwe Kerk on April, 18 2014.

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