For more than 50 years, the annual World Press Photo contest attracts entries from the highest calibre of press photographers across the world.
In preparation for this year’s awards, we look back at 30 overall winners dating all the way back to 1955. These images are, truly, some of the best press photos of the last 50 years.
(All text and images courtesy of World Press Photo. Above Clockwise: © John Stanmeyer, USA, VII for National Geographic; Hanns-Jörg Anders, Germany, Stern; Charlie Cole, USA, Newsweek; James Nachtwey, USA, Magnum Photos for Time)
2014 WORLD PRESS PHOTO OF THE YEAR
Photograph by Mads Nissen, Denmark, Berlingske/Scanpix
Jon and Alex, a gay couple, share an intimate moment at Alex’s home, a small apartment in St Petersburg, Russia. Life for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people is becoming increasingly difficult in Russia. Sexual minorities face legal and social discrimination, harassment, and even violent hate-crime attacks from conservative religious and nationalistic groups.
Commissioned by Berlingske/Scanpix
You can see all the winners of that year’s contest on the World Press Photo website.
2013 WORLD PRESS PHOTO OF THE YEAR
Photograph by John Stanmeyer, USA, VII for National Geographic
African migrants on the shore of Djibouti City at night raise their phones in an attempt to catch 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.
Commissioned by VII for National Geographic
You can see all the winners of that year’s contest on the World Press Photo website.
