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.
