World Press Photo Contest Winners 2012

By the numbers: 5, 247 Photographers, 124 Nationalities, 101, 254 pictures. Three hundred and fiftyimages by 57photographers of 24 nationalities were awarded prizes in nine categories. To view the entire collection of winning images from the 55th World Press Photo Contest: 2012 World Press Photo. Paula Nelson (16 photos total) 

2012 World Press Photo of the Year: A woman holds a wounded relative during protests against President Saleh in Sanaa, Yemen, Oct. 15, 2011. (Samuel Aranda/The New York Times)

2) 1st Prize Contemporary Issues Stories: Tahani, who married her husband Majed when she was 6 years old and he was 25 years old, poses for a portrait with her former classmate Ghada, also a child bride outside their mountain home in Hajjah, Yemen, June 10, 2010. Nearly half of all women in Yemen were married as children.(Stephanie Sinclair/VII Photo Agency/National Geographic Magazine)

 

 3) 1st Prize Daily Life Stories: Marco leads Monica from their bedroom to the living room in Buenos Aires. Monica was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. (Alejandro Kirchuk) #

 4) 2nd Prize Arts and Entertainment Singles: A model poses in front of a tailor in the center of Dakar, Senegal, July 9, 2011. She wears a creation of designer Yolande Mancini, participating in the 9th edition of Dakar Fashion Week.

(Vincent Boisot/Riva Press/Le Figaro Magazine) #

 5) 1st Prize Daily Life Singles: A photograph of North Korea's founder, Kim II-sung, hangs on a building in the capital of Pyongyang, North Korea, Oct. 5, 2011. (Damir Sagolj/Reuters) #

 6) 1st Prize General News Singles: Protestors cry, chant and scream in Cairo's Tahrir Square after listening to a speech in which Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said he would not give up power in Cairo, Egypt, Feb. 10, 2011. (Alex Majoli/Magnum Photos/Newsweek) #

 7) 1st Prize People in the News Stories: Chieko Matsukawa shows her daughter's graduation certificate, after she found it in the debris in Higashimatsushima City, Miyagi prefecture, Japan, April 3, 2011. (Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP) #

 8) 1st Prize Nature Singles: A male polar bear climbs precariously on the face of a cliff above the ocean at Ostrova Oranskie in northern Novaya Zemlya, attempting to feed on seabird eggs. (Jenny E. Ross) #

 9) 1st Prize Nature Stories: A female rhino that has survived a brutal dehorning bypoachers using a chainsaw four months earlier at the Tugela Private Game REserve, Colenso, Natal, South Africa, Nov. 9, 2010. (Brent Stirton/Reportage Betty Images/National Geographic Magazine) #

 

 10) 2nd Prize General News Stories: Tsunami aftermath, Japan, April 14, 2011. (Paolo Pellegrin/Magnum Photos/Zeit Magazin) #

 

 11) 1st Prize Portrait Singles: Iranian-born Danish actress Mellica Mehraban, Copenhagen, May 4, 2011. (Laerke Posselt) #

 

 12) 2nd Prize Portrait Stories: A recruit at a police training center, Kunduz, Afghanistan, Sept. 28, 2011. (Ton Koene) #

 2nd Prize Spot News Singles: Rebels in Ras Lanuf, Libya, March 11, 201. (Yuri Kozyrev/Noor Images/Time) #

 

 14) 2nd Prize Spot News Stories: Anders Behring Breivik killed 69 people, July 22, 2011, on the small island of Utoya outside of Oslo, Norway. (Niclas Hammerstrom/Aftonbladet) #

 15) 2nd Prize Sports Singles: A rugby match between Old Belvedere and Blackrock, Dublin, Ireland, Feb. 5, 2011. (Ray McManus/Sportsfile)