This work by Brent Stirton won first prize in the Contemporary Issues Singles category. it shows Maria, a drug-addicted sex worker, resting between clients in the room she rents in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine. The country has the highest incidence of HIV/Aids in Europe, according to UNICEF

This haunting image by Samuel Aranda was named press World Press Photo of the Year for 2012. It shows Fatima al-Qaws cradling her son Zayed (18), who is suffering from the effects of tear gas after participating in an anti-government demonstration, in Sanaa, Yemen, in October last year

‘Child brides’: This image by Stephanie Sinclair won first prize in the Contemporary Issues Stories category. Pictured are Tahani (in pink), who was married at the age of six, and her former classmate Ghada, also a child bride, standing with their husbands outside their home in Hajjah, Yemen

‘Tsunami’: Yasuyoshi Chiba won first prize in the People in the News Stories category for this moving work. Chieko Matsukawa is pictured holding up her daughter’s graduation certificate, which she salvaged from the ruins of their home in Higashimatsushima. On 11 March last year, a magnitude 9 earthquake triggered a tsunami that swept inland over an area of some 500 square kilometers leaving a path of destruction in its wake

‘World Aquatics Championships:’ Divers practice during the second day of the 14th FINA World Aquatics Championships, in Shanghai, China, in July 2011. The photo, by Australian Adam Pretty, won second prize in the Sports Stories category

‘On Revolution Road’: Rebels battle against government forces for Ras Lanuf, an oil-refining town on the Libyan coast, on 11 March last year. Ras Lanuf had fallen to anti-government forces on 4 March, during their initial advance west, towards the capital Tripoli. After heavy bombardment by land, sea and air, government forces retook the city on 10 March, and began pushing the rebels back. This picture, by Yuri Kozyrev won first prize in the Prize Spot News Singles category

See additional photos here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2230601/World-Press-Photo-2012-Picture-drug-addled-Ukrainian-prostitute-startling.html?ICO=most_read_module

Just goes to show: No matter how bad you think things are….it could always be worse (minus the diving pic).

Wes:
Just goes to show: No matter how bad you think things are….it could always be worse (minus the diving pic).

Wes your words speak loud and clear with me right now. Pictures 1 and 3 really trouble me.

Yeah, number 3 is the most disturbing. Check out the paddles those assholes have tucked into their belts. Just another example of the fucked up philosophy and way of life of these people.

sickman:
Yeah, number 3 is the most disturbing. Check out the paddles those assholes have tucked into their belts.

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That’s a traditional style of knife in some parts of the Arab world called a jambiya.

I did not know that. Doesn’t change how fucked up it is to marry a 6 year old.

sickman:
I did not know that. Doesn’t change how fucked up it is to marry a 6 year old.

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I agree wholeheartedly that it’s fucked up that a little girl gets stuck in that situation.

I’ve spent a fair amount of time in that part of the world and have seen these knives. They’re actually pretty cool.