World Press Photo 2012 winners
A HAUNTING PICTURE of a woman holding her wounded son in her arms in Yemen has won the World Press Photo of the Year for 2012.
For over 55 years, the World Press Photo competition has encouraged the highest standard among photojournalists around the world. The photographs shine a light on all aspects of human experience, from current events to nature, sports and everyday life.
The competition celebrates the role of photojournalists and highlights how important their work is in making news and current affairs accessible and real to the general public. With more than 100,000 photographs submitted, by 5200 photographers and 124 nationalities, this year’s competition produced some truly stunning entries.
Australian photographer Adam Pretty won second prize in the sports stories category for his shot of divers practicing during the 14th FINA World Aquatics Championships at the Oriental Sports Centre in Shanghai, China.
World Press Photo of the Year
The photograph of the year, shot by Spanish photographer Samuel Aranda, was taken inside a mosque used as a field hospital by demonstrators against the rule of President Ali Abdullah Saleh in Yemen.
“The winning photo shows a poignant, compassionate moment, the human consequence of an enormous event, an event that is still going on,” says Aidan Sullivan, chair of the 2012 World Press Photo competition. We might never know who this woman is, cradling an injured relative, but together they become a living image of the courage of ordinary people that helped create an important chapter in the history of the Middle East.”
All the prize-winning photographs are assembled into an exhibition that travels to 45 countries over the course of a year, and is made into a yearbook. The State Library of NSW in Sydney will be holding the World Press Photo exhibition from June 11 to August 5.
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