World Press Photo is the premier annual international competition in press photography, bringing together photographs from around the world selected by a prestigious jury. The prize-winning photographs travel as an exhibition to 45 countries and are seen by more than 3.5 million people each year. This year 82,951 photos taken by 5,775 photographers from 128 different countries were submitted.
A wounded Syrian girl looks on at a make shift hospital in the rebel-held area of Douma, east of the capital Damascus, following shelling and air raids by Syrian government forces on August 22, 2015. At least 20 civilians and wounded or trapped 200 in Douma, a monitoring group said, just six days after regime air strikes killed more than 100 people and sparked international condemnation of one of the bloodiest government attacks in Syria’s war. AFP PHOTO / ABD DOUMANY
The World Press Photo competition honours excellence in photojournalism and rewards photographers who capture photographs representing events of great journalistic importance in the last year. Subject matters on display in this year’s exhibition include images of events depicting war-torn territories, the ongoing refugee crisis, rallies protesting police brutality and displays of the power of nature such as an avalanche that swept over a Mount Everest basecamp as a result of 2015’s Nepalese earthquake.
Warren Richardson Hope For a New Life. Migrants crossing the border from Serbia into Hungary.
The exhibition also includes this year’s winning World Press Photo of the Year, taken by Australian freelance photographer Warren Richardson. Richardson’s photograph, which also won first prize in the ‘Spot News’ category, shows refugees crossing the border from Serbia into Hungary, near Horgoš and Röszke. Taken at night on 28th August 2015, the man and child in the photograph were part of the movement of people seeking to cross into Hungary before a secure fence on the border was completed.
World Press Photo 16 Friday 4th – Monday 21st November 2016 Level 2, Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre: Open daily 10am to 11pm, free
