Clubforum.webs.com

Paul Hansen Wins 2012 World Press Photo of the Year:

Swedish photographer Paul Hansen won the 2012 World Press Photo of the Year for an image that shows a group of men carrying the bodies of two dead children in Gaza City, Palestine. The World Press Organization announced the winners of the 56th annual contest at a press conference on February 15 in Amsterdam.

Hansen, who is a photographer for the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter, shot the winning photograph last November after an Israeli missile attack destroyed the family’s home. This year’s chair of the jury was Santiago Lyon, vice president and director of photography at The Associated Press. In an announcement released by World Press Photo, fellow juror member Mayu Mohanna, a photographer and curator based in Peru, said about Hansen’s winning photo: “The strength of the pictures lies in the way it contrasts the anger and sorrow of the adults with the innocence of the children. It’s a picture I will not forget.”

Hansen will receive a 10,000 euro award and other prizes at a ceremony to be held in Amsterdam in April.

The World Press Photo Contest honors outstanding photojournalism, both single pictures and photo stories, in several categories, including Spot News, General News, People in the News, Sports, Contemporary Issues, Daily Life, Arts and Entertainment, Portraits, and Nature.

Hansen’s winning image also placed first in the Spot News Singles category. Coverage of the Syria took many of the other top news prizes. Rodrigo Abd, an Associated Press photographer, won first in the General News/Singles category for his photo of a woman injured by shelling in Syria. Alessio Romenzi’s coverage of the war in Syria won first in General News/Stories.

Other first-place winners include Paul Nicklen, who won first place in Nature Stories for images on Emperor penguins. Nadav Kander won first in Staged Portraits for a black-and-white photo of actor Daniel Kaluuya. Jan Grarup’s story on a women’s basketball team in Mogadishu, Somalia, won first place in Sports Features.