World Press Photo at 70 – in pictures

1966 Contest | Most Artistic Press Photo Singles 1st Prize | Ekkehart Sachse, Germany

American writer James Baldwin during a book signing session in the Hamburg bookshop, Felix Jud

Photograph: Ekkehart Sachse, Germany/World Press Photo

1964 Contest | Don McCullin

Ghaziveram, Cyprus. A Turkish woman mourns her dead husband, a victim of the war in Cyprus between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots. 20 March 1964

Photograph: Don McCullin/World Press Photo

1969 Contest | News Singles 2nd Prize | Horst Faas

A Vietnamese woman cries over the body of her dead husband, who was discovered with 47 others in a mass grave. Remnants of the corpse were wrapped in plastic. She identified her husband by examining his teeth, and covered the skull with her hat, 11 April 1969

Photograph: Horst Faas/World Press Photo

1974 Contest | Humor Singles 2nd Prize | Roberto Peeters

At the beach, 1973

Photograph: Roberto Peeters, The Netherlands, ANP/World Press Photo

1977 Contest | Eddie Adams

Tall ship USS Constellation is framed between the twin towers of the World Trade Center during the Operation Sail event at the Bicentennial, the celebrations of America’s 200th anniversary on 4 July 1976

Photograph: World Press Photo

1979 Contest | Eddie Adams

White life in Rhodesia: A school teacher walks home after her car broke down. On 3 March 1978, after 14 years of civil war, the Rhodesian prime minister, Ian Smith, and bishop Abel Muzorewa of the United African National Council signed the Internal Settlement. In 1965, Smith, prime minister of the British colony since 1964, had declared Rhodesia unilaterally independent under white minority rule. The declaration not only sparked international outrage and economic sanctions, but also a guerrilla war against white rule by different political and military factions

Photograph: Eddie Adams, USA, Associated Press/World Press Photo

1985 Contest | People in the News - 3rd prize | Harry Benson

Children of US presidents. Steve Ford finishes a take on The Young the Restless, 1984

Photograph: Harry Benson, United Kingdom/World Press Photo

1986 Contest | Spot News 1st Prize | David B Parker

Shannon Jones is rescued, 30 April 1985. After holding his four children hostage for six hours after their mother left him, Patrick Jones was arrested without bloodshed

Photograph: David B Parker, USA, for The Yuba-Sutter Appeal-Democrat/World Press Photo

1989 Contest | Mannie Garcia

One of the jets of the Italian aero-acrobatic team Frecce Tricolore crashes near spectators at the Ramstein airshow in West Germany. August 28 1988

Photograph: Mannie Garcia, USA, Sipa Press/World Press Photo

1990 Contest | Eric Bouvet

The funeral procession for the Iranian leader of the 1979 revolution, Ayatollah Khomeini, who died at the age of 89, on 6 June 1989. Among the millions of mourners giving free rein to their grief, several people were crushed to death; many more fainted and suffered injuries

Photograph: Eric Bouvet/World Press Photo

1990 Contest | Spot News Stories 2nd Prize | Christopher Morris

US invasion of Panama during Operation Just Cause. By December, General Noriega’s days as president were numbered as the US responded to his declaration of war. Noriega was eventually tracked down where he had sought asylum in a Vatican embassy

Photograph: Christopher Morris, USA, Black Star/World Press Photo

1991 Contest | Sports Singles 2nd Prize | Sake Elzinga

Australian Andreas Siegl, who misses an arm and a leg, clears 1.76m in the high jump at the World Championship Games for the Disabled, as it was then called, in Assen, Netherlands, July 1990

Photograph: Sake Elzinga, The Netherlands/World Press Photo

1992 Contest | World Press Photo of the Year | David Turnley

While being evacuated to hospital by helicopter, wounded US Sgt Ken Kozakiewicz grieves as he learns that the body bag next to the wounded Cpl Michael Tsangarakis contains the remains of his friend Andy Alaniz, 27 February 1991. Part of the well-armed US 24th Infantry Division, Kozakiewicz, Alaniz and Tsangarakis were in different military vehicles approaching an airfield in order to sweep the area. A US tank unit mistook their vehicles for the enemy and fired between 6-18 rounds of depleted uranium, hitting three vehicles

Photograph: David Turnley, USA, Detroit Free Press / Black Star/World Press Photo

1995 Contest | Sports Stories 2nd Prize | Klaas Jan Weij

For the cowboys travelling around America, the rodeo is not just a hobby or a job: it is a way of life. They spend most of their time on the road between one event and the next, planning their lives around the rodeo calendar. For some, it is not unusual to take part in more than 100 rodeos a year all over the US and Canada. Today’s competitive rodeo, where skills like lassoing and broncobusting are demonstrated, finds its origin in the cattle ranches of the Wild West

Photograph: Klaas Jan van der Weij, The Netherlands/World Press Photo

1997 Contest | Spot News - 1st prize | Corinne Dufka

A NPFL (National Patriotic Front of Liberia) fighter carries a wounded comrade to safety. In April and May, the fiercest fighting in Liberia’s seven-year civil strife claimed some 1,500 lives, forcing most aid organisations to evacuate their workers and almost half the population to flee their homes. The situation was sparked by a dismissed minister and warlord supported by the Krahn ethnic group, who refused to surrender

Photograph: Corinne Dufka, USA, Reuters/World Press Photo

1991 Contest | Spot News Singles 1st Prize and World Press Photo of the Year | Georges Mérillon

Family and neighbours mourn the death of Nasimi Elshani, who was killed during a protest against the abolition of the autonomy of Kosovo, in Nogovac, 28 January 1990. His mother, Sabrié, and sister Aferdita are on the right, and his sister Ryvije, in the middle. Since 1974, Kosovo had been an autonomous province within Serbia and Yugoslavia. In 1989, Slobodan Milosevic, the Serbian leader, reduced Kosovo’s autonomous status and started a policy of cultural oppression of the ethnic Albanian population

Photograph: Georges Mérillon, France, Gamma/World Press Photo

1992 Contest | Singles Individual award | Steve McCurry

Camels search for untainted shrubs and water in the burning oil fields of southern Kuwait, 1 March 1991. As his army retreated from Kuwait, at the end of the first Gulf war, Saddam Hussein ordered the ignition of the oil fields that scatter the country. The effect was an ecological disaster of unimaginable scale. ‘Over 600 oil wells were on fire, turning daytime into night. The smoke was so thick that sometimes you couldn’t breathe. Animals were left to wander among the burning oil fields, looking for food and water.’ Steve McCurry

Photograph: Steve McCurry, USA, Magnum Photos for National Geographic/World Press Photo

1993 Contest | Steve Dykes

American basketball hero Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson sheds a few tears on the day he retires from the Los Angeles Lakers at the age of 32.In November 1991, he told the world he was HIV-positive, but he returned to play for his country in the ‘Dream Team’, which won the gold medal at the Barcelona Olympic Games

Photograph: Steve Dykes, USA, Los Angeles Times/World Press Photo

1998 Contest | People in the News Singles 1st Prize and World Press Photo of the Year | Hocine Zaourar

A woman cries outside the Zmirli hospital, where the dead and injured were taken after a massacre in Bentalha, Algeria. Mass killings and bomb blasts dominated life after the army annulled the results of the 1992 elections, in which it appeared the Muslim fundamentalist party, the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS), would win. The conflict had claimed more than 60,000 lives in five years. 23 September 1997

Photograph: Hocine Zaourar, Algeria, Agence France-Presse/World Press Photo

2002 Contest | Tom Stoddart | Stories 2nd Prize

In Bhachau, India, one of the towns worst hit by the 26 January earthquake, a child plays with birds, 17 February 2001. One million people were left homeless when the earthquake measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale struck Gujarat. It lasted just 30 seconds, but killed 30,000 people. In the following weeks, survivors and rescue workers recovered bodies under the rubble of their homes. The earthquake came during the winter, leaving the homeless cold at night and at risk of disease. Densely populated towns near the epicentre were heavily damaged

Photograph: Tom Stoddart, United Kingdom, Independent Photographers Group/World Press Photo

2002 Contest | Arts and Entertainment | Stories - 2nd prize | Shobha

A battery necklace and CD antennae make original accessories for a model. An explosion of ideas has made Dakar Africa’s fashion capital. About 30 ambitious young designers develop their own personal styles outside the world’s better-known fashion centres. An international fashion week takes place at the same time as the annual Dakar Carnival, leading to some unexpected sights. 1 June 2001

Photograph: Shobha, Italy, Contrasto / Focus/World Press Photo

2002 Contest | Daily Life Stories 2nd Prize | Francesco Zizola

Nuba boy of the Tira tribe. In the mountains of central Sudan, the Nuba people struggle to preserve a culture under threat. The Nuba have lived in the remote region for hundreds of years. However, their numbers are dwindling, as fierce fighting between government troops and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army forces thousands to flee to urban centres for food and shelter. Displaced, or forced to hide in caves, they also face hostility from the fundamentalist Muslim government, which has declared Nuba Mountain Islam to be heretical

Photograph: Francesco Zizola, Italy Contrasto for Max/World Press Photo

2009 Contest | Stories 3rd Prize | Wojciech Grzedzinski

A Russian soldier lights a cigarette just outside Gori. Conflict broke out between Russia and Georgia in August over the breakaway region of South Ossetia. On August 7, Georgia launched an attack on South Ossetia, saying its aim was to restore constitutional order. Russia sent troops in support of the separatists, and on 9 August staged an air attack on Gori, a Georgian town near South Ossetia. Russian troops occupied the area around Gori, but later pulled back under a ceasefire. 13 August 2008

Photograph: Wojciech Grzedzinski, Poland, Napo Images for Dziennik/World Press Photo

2012 Contest | Sports Stories 2nd Prize | Adam Pretty

Competitors at the World Swimming Championships in Shanghai, China, 17 July 2011

Photograph: Adam Pretty, Australia, Getty Images/World Press Photo

2014 Contest | General News Stories 2nd Prize | William Daniels

Internally displaced people queue for food in the CAR capital. In March, an alliance of mainly Muslim rebel groups known as Séléka seized power in the Central African Republic (CAR). Hundreds were killed, and some 400,000 people were displaced, as violence in the CAR escalated

Photograph: William Daniels, France, Panos Pictures for Time/World Press Photo

2014 Contest | Contemporary Issues Singles 1st Prize and World Press Photo of the Year | John Stanmeyer

African migrants on the shore of Djibouti City at night raise their phones in an attempt to catch an inexpensive signal from neighbouring Somalia – a tenuous link to relatives abroad. Taken as part of a project following ancient paths of human migration from Africa to Tierra del Fuego at the tip of South America, the image sparked surprise when it became World Press Photo of the Year because it was different from previous winners, which often show conflict or historic moments.26 February 2013.

Photograph: John Stanmeyer, USA, VII for National Geographic/World Press Photo

2024 Contest | Asia - Jury Special Mention | Mustafa Hassouna

A resident of al-Zahra walks through the rubble of homes destroyed in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City. The jury made the exceptional decision to include two special mentions in the 2024 contest - one for this image and one for an image of an Israeli security forces officer searching the site of the Supernova music festival for personal effects of victims of the 7 October Hamas attack. 19 October 2023

Photograph: Mustafa Hassouna, Palestine, Anadolu Images/World Press Photo

2024 Contest | Europe - Stories | Johanna Maria Fritz

A volunteer rescues cats in the flooded harbour district in Kherson, Ukraine, 9 June 2023. Flooding from the breached Kakhovka Dam lasted for 19 days. On 6 June 2023, explosions damaged the wall of the Russian-controlled Kakhovka Dam in southeastern Ukraine, causing extensive floods in Kherson, downstream on the Dnipro River

Photograph: Johanna Maria Fritz, Germany, Ostkreuz, for Die Zeit/World Press Photo