Winners of the 51st annual World Press Photo Contest were announced on 8 February 2008. This year, a record number of participants from 125 countries submitted their work to the contest. A total of 5,019 photographers sent in 80,536 images. Members of the international jury looked at every single photo (!), and then culled the list down to 59 winning photographers.
As always, the winning photos are superb and inspiring. Our hats go off to the photographers — and to the jury — for making this event one of the most meaningful and relevant photography contests every year.
The jury gave prizes in 10 theme categories to 59 photographers of 23 nationalities from: Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Japan, People’s Republic of China, Poland, Portugal, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, USA, and Zimbabwe.
We are happy to present 21 of the winning photos.
UK photographer Tim Hetherington captured top honors with the World Press Photo of the Year. The picture was taken 16 September 2007 and shows a US soldier resting at “Restrepo” bunker, named after a soldier from his platoon who was recently killed by insurgents. The 2nd Battalion Airborne of the 503rd US infantry is undergoing a deployment in the Korengal Valley in the Eastern province of Afghanistan. The valley is infamous as the site of downing of a US helicopter and has seen some of the most intense fighting in the country.
Hetherington’s photograph is part of a picture story that was also awarded 2nd Prize in General News Stories. He had traveled to Afghanistan on assignment for Vanity Fair.
“This image shows the exhaustion of a man – and the exhaustion of a nation,” says jury chairman Gary Knight, and adds “We’re all connected to this. It’s a picture of a man at the end of a line.”
The 2008 jury was:
- Gary Knight (UK), photographer and chairman VII Photo Agency (Jury Chair)
- Jodi Bieber (South Africa), photographer Noor
- Oliver Chanarin (South Africa/UK), photographer Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin
- Erin Elder (Canada), photo editor The Globe and Mail
- Craig Golding (Australia), photographer Sydney Morning Herald
- MaryAnne Golon (USA), director of photography Time magazine
- Maria Mann (USA), managing editor European Pressphoto Agency
- Enric Martí (Spain), regional photo editor Latin America & Caribbean, The Associated Press
- Michael Nichols (USA), photographer National Geographic Magazine
- Simon Njami (Cameroon), independent curator
- Swapan Parekh (India), photographer
- Stephan Vanfleteren (Belgium), photographer
- Sujong Song (South Korea), freelance photo editor
Tim Hetherington, the winner of the World Press Photo of the Year, will receive his award during an awards ceremony in Amsterdam on Sunday 27 April 2008. The award also carries a cash prize of 10,000 euros and a Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III camera.
The awards ceremony is preceded by a three-day program of lectures, discussions and screenings of photography. The exhibition of prizewinners will visit over 100 locations around the world.
Award winnerWorld Press Photo Awards 2008The winners of World Press Photo Awards. Here are some of the very best photos taken in the world of photojournalism during 2007.View Images
Award winner
World Press Photo Awards 2008
The winners of World Press Photo Awards. Here are some of the very best photos taken in the world of photojournalism during 2007.
World Press Photo Awards 2008
The winners of World Press Photo Awards. Here are some of the very best photos taken in the world of photojournalism during 2007.
Trending this Week

As Immense as the Sky
Calling the past into the present, Meryl McMaster’s otherworldly self-portraits draw on her Indigenous and European heritage, channeling photography as a tool to reclaim and reimagine these intertwined histories.

Announcing the 2021 LensCulture Art Photography Award Winners!
Announcing the winners of the 2021 Art Photography Awards! Discover the 41 remarkable photographers who have been selected for their vision, innovation and creativity.

Companion Pieces: New Photography 2020
The latest “New Photography” exhibition at MoMA has migrated online to offer up an immersive, digital experience of the work and process of eight artists asking the question: How do images speak to each other?

Conceptual Photographs, the Neutral in Realism, and More
A short but wide-ranging conversation: from tactile, tangible connections to the photographic medium, to establishing an honest dialogue with portraiture.

The Americans
This is the photo book that redefined what a photo book could be — personal, poetic, real. First published in 1959, Robert Frank’s masterpiece still holds up — the selection of photos, and their sequence and pacing is fresh, rich, generous, and...

26 Black-and-White Photography Favorites from LensCulture
LensCulture’s editors revisit 26 of the most popular recent articles that feature black-and-white photography – portfolios, essays, interviews, exhibitions and book reviews.