World Press Photo announces winners of 2017 contests
Amsterdam, 13 February 2017
The World Press Photo Foundation announces the winners of its renowned contests, the 60th annual World Press Photo Contest and the 7th annual World Press Photo Digital Storytelling Contest.
- The jury of the 60th annual Photo Contest has selected an image by Turkish photographer Burhan Ozbilici as the World Press Photo of the Year
- Gallery of all 2017 Photo Contest winners: https://www.worldpressphoto.org/collection/photo/2017
- Gallery of all 2017 Digital Storytelling Contest winners: https://www.worldpressphoto.org/collection/mm/2017
World Press Photo of the Year
World Press Photo of the Year: An assassination – Mevlut Mert Altintas shouts after shooting Andrei Karlov, right, the Russian ambassador to Turkey, at an art gallery in Ankara, Turkey, Monday, Dec. 19, 2016. (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)
The 2017 World Press Photo Contest
The World Press Photo of the Year honors the photographer whose visual creativity and skills made a picture that captures or represents an event or issue of great journalistic importance in the last year.
Burhan Ozbilici’s picture–which also won first prize in the Spot News Stories category–shows how 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 19 December 2016. Altıntaş wounded three other people before being killed by officers in a shootout. Ozbilici is a staff photographer for The Associated Press, based in Istanbul.
Mary F. Calvert, member of the jury, spoke about the winning photograph:
“It was a very very difficult decision, but in the end we felt that the picture of the Year was an explosive image that really spoke to the hatred of our times. Every time it came on the screen you almost had to move back because it such an explosive image and we really felt that it epitomizes the definition of what the World Press Photo of the Year is and means.”
Jury member João Silva added:
“Right now I see the world marching towards the edge of an abyss. This is a man who has clearly reached a breaking point and his statement is to assassinate someone who he really blames, a country that he blames, for what is going on elsewhere in the region. I feel that what is happening in Europe, what is happening in America, what is happening in the Far East, Middle East, Syria, and this image to me talks of it. It is the face of hatred.”
Jury member Tanya Habjouqa said about this year’s winners:
“It was a very intense, sometimes brutal, discussion—sometimes even emotional—but I feel proud. I think we were brave in our decision. We were bold. I think the selection is definitely going to push forward a debate and I think it is a debate that is essential to have.”
The 2017 Photo Contest in numbers
The 2017 contest drew entries from around the world: 5,034 photographers from 125 countries submitted 80,408 images. The jury gave prizes in eight categories to 45 photographers from 25 countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Iran, Italy, Pakistan, Philippines, Romania, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Syria, New Zealand, Turkey, UK, and USA.
Discover all of the winners and the awarded photos in an image gallery: http://www.worldpressphoto.org/collection/photo/2017
-
- Marcela, 2 years-old, observes her twin sisters Heloá (right) and Heloisa (left), , seven months old, both with microcephaly caused by the Zika virus, in her mother’s lap at the family’s home in the rural area of Areias. The state of Paraíba, located in the Northeast region of Brazil, has one of the highest rates of microcephaly caused by the Zika virus in the country. ( Photo: Lalo de Almeida )
-
- 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. Story: “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 1.8 million homeless people live in Brazil. (photo: Peter Bauza)
-
- 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. Story: 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. (Photo: Mathieu Willcocks )
-
- 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. Story: 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. (Photo: Tomas Munita, for The New York Times)
-
- 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. Story: 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. (Photo: Francesco Comello)
-
- 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. .Few minutes later he was found in the same place shot dead multiple times. (Photo: Alessio Romenzi)
-
- Civilians escape from a fire at a house destroyed by an air attack in the Luhanskaya village. Story: 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. (Photo: Valery Melnikov, Rossia Segodnya)
-
- 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. (Photo: Francis Pérez)
-
- MOAMBA, MOZAMBIQUE: 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 co-ordinated 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 Mozabique 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 possesion on 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, 19, 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. (Photo: Brent Stirton, Getty Images for National Geographic Magazine)
-
- A family flees the fighting in Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, as oil fields burned in Qayyara, Iraq. Story: 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. (Photo: Sergey Ponomarev, for The New York Times)
-
- African Elephant under the starry sky. Story: 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. (Photo: Bence Máté)
-
- On 28 December 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. (Photo: Antonio Gibotta, Agenzia Controluce)
-
- Gael Monfils of France dives for a forehand in his fourth round match against Andrey Kuznestov of Russia, during the 2016 Australian Open at Melbourne Park, Australia, on 25 January 2016. The Australian Open holds the record for the highest attendance at a Grand Slam event. (Photo: Cameron Spencer, Getty Images)
-
- A Syrian girl cries out as a wounded child lies next to her at a makeshift hospital on 12 September 2016. She had been injured in reported government airstrikes on the rebel-held town of Douma, east of Damascus, Syria. (Photo; Abd Doumany, Agence France-Presse )
-
- Syrian civil defence volunteers, known as the White Helmets, rescue a boy from the rubble following a reported barrel bomb attack on the Bab al-Nairab neighborhood of Aleppo on 24 November 2016. (Photo:Ameer Alhalbi, Agence France-Presse)
-
- 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. Story: 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. (Photo: Ami Vitale, for National Geographic Magazine)
