The heart-stopping image of the assassin that killed the Russian ambassador to Turkey, Andrey Karlov, is the World Press Photo Of The Year. The image of Mevlüt Mert Altıntaş, taken by The Associated Press’ Istanbul-based photographer, Burhan Ozbilici, captivated the world in December, and appears to have done the same with the judges in this year’s competition.
Judge Mary F. Calvert described the image as “explosive.”
“It was a very very difficult decision, but in the end we felt that the picture of the year was an explosive image that really spoke to the hatred of our times,” Calvert said. “Every time it came on the screen you almost had to move back because it’s such an explosive image and we really felt that it epitomizes the definition of what the World Press Photo of the Year is and means.”
The World Press Photo Awards recognize the best single-exposure photos taken in the previous year. This year’s contest drew entries from photographers in 125 countries. They submitted 80,408 images in eight categories.
See the rest of this year’s winners below.
Some images may be disturbing.