U.S. photographer Spencer Platt wins World Press Photo award

The image contrasts a group of friends against a background of the wreckage of a collapsed building. Tellingly, one woman grimaces as she uses her mobile phone to send a text message to a friend, while another, wearing sunglasses, covers her nose with a handkerchief.

The award, which Platt took while working for photo agency Getty Images, is considered one of the most prestigious for photojournalists.

The photo was taken on Aug. 15, the first day of a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah, as thousands of Lebanese began returning to their homes. It also won in the category of “Daily Life Singles.”

The chairman of the jury, Michele McNally of the New York Times, described the shot as “a picture you can keep looking at.”

“It has the complexity and contradiction of real life, amidst chaos. This photograph makes you look beyond the obvious,” she said in a statement announcing the winners.

In the prestigious spot and general news categories, Reuters’ Akintunde Akinleye won in the spot news singles category for a picture of a man rinsing soot from his face after a pipeline explosion in Lagos, Nigeria, on Dec. 26, while Italy’s Davide Monteleone won in the spot news story category for Contrasto with photos of the Israeli bombings of Lebanon in July.

Italy’s Paolo Pellegrin, working for Magnum Photos, won in the general news singles category with a picture of a victim of an Israeli rocket attack, taken in Tyre, Lebanon, on Aug. 6. Hungarian photographer Zsolt Szigetvary won in the general news story category for photos of the riots in Budapest in September and October, working for MTI.

Associated Press photographer David Guttenfelder won in the Daily Life Stories category with an atmospheric series of black and white images titled “The Lonely Man,” shot in the Japanese capital, Tokyo.

Another AP photographer, Oded Balilty, won first prize in the People In the News Singles category with a shot of an Israeli settler struggling with an Israeli security officer.

Among other AP winners, Arturo Rodriguez took second prize for Spot News Singles with a shot of migrants waiting for transportation on the Spanish island of Tenerife. Rodriguez also took second prize in the People in the News Stories category with images of tourists helping migrants on a Tenerife beach.

In sports news, a shot of French football player Zinedine Zidane headbutting an opponent in the World Cup final in Berlin on July 9 won in the Sports Action category for Dutch photographer Peter Schols, working for Dagblad De Limburger, GPD, and Reuters.

The Associated Press won six awards, the most of any news agency overall, followed by Reuters with five and Getty with four.

Organizers said 4,460 professional photographers from 124 countries entered 78,083 images for the competition. Photographers from a total of 23 countries won awards in the 10 theme categories.

Platt will receive his award and euro10,000 (US$13,000) in a ceremony April 22.

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