The World Press Photo Contest judges have honored the organization's top prize for 2015 to a murky black-and-white image that shows the hardship of the ongoing migrant crisis issue.
The picture was shot by freelance Australian photographer Warren Richardson and also won the contest's spot news singles category.
The photograph is of a Syrian man passing on a child under barbed wire, trying to get the baby across from Serbia into Hungary. Its only source of light is the moon, the photographer said he "would have given their position away to the Hungarian police" if he had used a flash to light the photo, The Daily Mail reported.
Richardson had not seen the picture until he returned home to Budapest and started to edit his pictures, as he needed to save his camera's battery.
Vaughn Wallace, who was a jury member and also deputy photo editor for Al Jazeera America, said that the image was "incredibly powerful visually," and also said it was much nuanced. He said the photo makes you stop and look at the man who is passing on the child, and the child itself. He also commented on the presence of the barbed wire and the hands reaching out from the dark.
The photo contest had 82,951 images in it, entered by 5,775 photographers.
Francis Kohn, who is jury chairman and photo director at Agence France-Presse, talked about Richardson's World Press Photo of the Year as well. He remarked on its subtlety as well as the overall simplicity of the moonlight, barbed wire, man and baby.
He also said he could feel the drama and hardship of the picture, and thinking about it made the image grow on him.
Richardson, who is 47, covered the migrant crisis last year for many months despite not being on a paid assignment. He lived with the migrants and sometimes went without meals.
He has worked internationally on important issues for over 20 years.
The winning image is previously unpublished.
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