The international jury of the 54th annual World Press Photo Contest has selected a photograph by South African photographer Jodi Bieber as the World Press Photo of the Year 2010 from a record total entry of over 108,000 photographs. The portrait of Bibi Aisha was also awarded First prize in the 'Portraits Singles' category of the contest - the image was shot for Time and featured on the 1 August 2010 issue of the magazine.

© Seamus Murphy, Ireland, VII Network

2nd prize, People in the News Singles. Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, London, 30 September.

Jodi Bieber's winning picture shows Bibi Aisha, an 18-year-old woman from Oruzgan province in Afghanistan, who fled back to her family home from her husband's house, complaining of violent treatment. The Taliban arrived one night, demanding that Bibi be handed over to face justice. After a Taliban commander pronounced his verdict, Bibi's brother-in-law held her down and her husband sliced off her ears and then cut off her nose. Bibi was abandoned, left for dead, but was later rescued by aid workers and the American military. After time in a women's refuge in Kabul, she was taken to America, where she received counselling and reconstructive surgery. Bibi Aisha now lives in the USA.

Jodi Bieber has previously won eight World Press Photo awards and is only the second South African photographer to win the highest honour in the contest. She is a former participant of World Press Photo Joop Swart Masterclass, where she returned as a master in 2010. Bieber is represented by the Institute for Artist Management and the Goodman Gallery.

© Daniel Berehulak, Australia, Getty Images

1st prize, People in the News Stories. Pakistan floods, August-September: flood victims scramble for food as they battle the downwash from a Pakistan army helicopter during relief operations, Dadu, Pakistan, 13 September.

The World Press Photo jury's conclusion

Commenting on the winning image World Press Photo jury chair David Burnett said: "This could become one of those pictures - and we have maybe just ten in our lifetime - where if somebody says 'you know, that picture of a girl...', you know exactly which one they're talking about."

Speaking at the World Press Photo Contest press conference held in the Boekmanzaal, Amsterdam City Hall, on 11 February 2010 Burnett explained: "It's an interesting choice - it's not one of the big news events of last year. It kind of speaks to a smaller scale, but nonetheless very prevalent, type of event which is happening all the time. It's a powerful story... it engages the audience to ask more questions, rather than giving answers. This picture stands on its own - it's very iconic, very disturbing. It's a tough picture - it's not easy to look at."

© Stefano Unterthiner, Italy, for National Geographic magazine

2nd prize, Nature Stories. Whooper Swans at dawn, Hokkaido, Japan, January.

Jury member Ruth Eichhorn, Director of Photography for GEO, commented: "It's an incredibly strong image. It sends out an enormously powerful message to the world, about the 50% of the population that are women, so many of whom still live in miserable conditions, suffering violence. It is strong because the woman looks so dignified, iconic."

Juror Aidan Sullivan, Vice President of Photo Assignments, Getty Images, explained: "Part of what the World Press Photo contest does is to take pictures to a wider audience, an audience that is going to ask why? And this photo makes people ask "What on earth...?" "What's going on...?" "What has happened...?" For me, this was the picture that asked the most important questions."

Canon is one of the worldwide sponsors of World Press Photo and Kieran Magee, Professional Imaging Marketing Director, Canon Europe, commented: "Powerful images bring news and events to life and make them resonate more strongly with us, the viewing public. We feel hugely privileged to have a relationship with World Press Photo that has spanned an eventful 19 years of history and showcases Canon’s commitment to the Power of Image. The incredible images from this year’s entrants have continued to raise the bar for photojournalism and we would like to congratulate each and every entrant for their fantastic contribution."

The jury gave prizes in nine themed categories to 56 photographers of 23 nationalities from: Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Haiti, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, Poland, Somalia, South Africa, Spain and the USA.

During the two-week period of judging the 19-strong jury viewed a record number of photographs with 108,059 images submitted by 5,691 photographers from 125 different nationalities.

© Ed Ou, Canada, Reportage by Getty Images

1st prize, Contemporary Issues Stories. Escape from Somalia, March: four Somali refugees en route to Yemen sleep in the desert after travelling all night on muddy roads and in pouring rain, Somaliland, 15 March.

Jury awards a 'Special Mention'

Following the judging of the contest, the jury decided to award a Special Mention to a 12-picture series of photographs made by the miners trapped for 69 days inside the San José mine in Chile, 700 metres underground, before they were rescued on 13 October 2010.

The pictures show the difficult conditions inside the mine and feature one of the men, Eduardo Peña, a keen runner who kept up his exercises underground. Writer Dan McDougall and photographer Adam Patterson spent weeks with the Peña family before he was rescued and began corresponding with him by letter. McDougall and Patterson were able to send Peña a pair of running shoes and a small digital camera down into the mineshaft where he was trapped. Panos Pictures is licensing the pictures on behalf of Eduardo Peña.

Jury member Abir Abdullah commented: "This recognition opens up the possibility of showing citizen journalism, when professional photographers have not had the opportunity to be some place, but because of technological development, someone can record it. It brings us into a new era that challenges professionals, and this is a good example of a photo from a place where a photojournalist could not possibly have been."

Fellow jury member Vince Aletti noted: "We are able to see the conditions... the images respond to our curiosity in a vivid way."

The jury considers a visual document for a Special Mention when it has played an essential role in the news reporting of the year worldwide and could not have been made by a professional photographer.

©Daniele Tamagni, Italy

2nd prize, Arts and Entertainment Stories. The Flying Cholitas, Bolivia: Lucha libre (Bolivian wrestling) is one of the most popular sports in the country.

World Press Photo Awards Days and 2011 exhibition

Jodi Bieber, the photographer who shot the World Press Photo of the Year 2010, will receive her award during an awards ceremony in Amsterdam on 7 May 2011. The award also carries a cash prize of €10,000 and Canon will donate a Canon EOS DSLR camera and lens kit to Jodi Bieber.

The awards ceremony will be preceded by a two-day programme of lectures, discussions and screenings of the winning photography from the 2010 contest. The exhibition of prize-winning photography will be shown at the Oude Kerk, Amsterdam, from 22 April to 19 June 2011 and will subsequently visit over 100 locations around the world. For a provisional exhibition schedule visit here.

World Press Photo receives support from the Dutch Postcode Lottery and is sponsored worldwide by Canon and TNT.

World Press Photo Contest 2010 - full list of winners

WORLD PRESS PHOTO OF THE YEAR 2010
Jodi Bieber, South Africa, Institute for Artist Management/Goodman Gallery for Time magazine.
Bibi Aisha, disfigured as punishment for fleeing her husband's house, Kabul, Afghanistan

SPOT NEWS SINGLES

1. Péter Lakatos, Hungary, MTI
   Suicide jump, Budapest, Hungary, 22 May
2. Daniel Morel, Haiti
   Rescue of a woman trapped under earthquake rubble, Port-au-Prince, 12 January
3. Uwe Webert, Germany, for Bild
   Crowd throngs at entrance to Love Parade, Duisburg, Germany, 24 July

SPOT NEWS STORIES

1. Daniel Morel, Haiti
   Minutes after the earthquake, Port-au-Prince, Haiti, 12 January
2. Corentin Fohlen, France, Fedephoto
   Anti-government riots, Bangkok, Thailand, May
3. Lu Guang, China
   Firefighters during oil spill cleanup attempt, Dalian, China, 20 June

   Honorable mention
   Alexandre Vieira, Brazil, Jornal O Dia
   Shootout on the street, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 3 March

GENERAL NEWS SINGLES

1. Riccardo Venturi, Italy, Contrasto
   Old Iron Market burns, Port-au-Prince, Haiti, 18 January
2. Guang Niu, China, for Getty Images
   Tibetan monks prepare mass cremation for earthquake victims, Qinghai Province, China, 17 April
3. Javier Manzano, USA
   Mexico's drug wars: severed head of a murder victim, Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, 6 February

GENERAL NEWS STORIES

1. Olivier Laban-Mattei, France, Agence France-Presse
   Earthquake aftermath, Port-au-Prince, 15-26 January
2. Massimo Berruti, Italy, Agence Vu
   Targeted killings in Karachi, Pakistan
3. Fernando Brito, Mexico, El Debate de Culiacán
   Victims of Mexico's drug wars, Culiacán

PEOPLE IN THE NEWS SINGLES

1. Altaf Qadri, India, The Associated Press
   Funeral of Feroz Ahmad, Pahan, Indian-administered Kashmir, 6 September
2. Seamus Murphy, Ireland, VII Network
   Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, London, 30 September
3. Vincent Yu, Hong Kong, The Associated Press
   North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and his son Kim Jong Un, Pyongyang, North Korea, 10 October

PEOPLE IN THE NEWS STORIES

1. Daniel Berehulak, Australia, Getty Images
   Pakistan floods, August-September
2. Kemal Jufri, Indonesia, Panos Pictures
   Eruption of Mount Merapi, Central Java, Indonesia, November
3. Filip Cwik, Poland, Napo Images for Newsweek Polska
   National mourning, Poland, April

SPORTS SINGLES

1. Mike Hutchings, South Africa, Reuters
   Netherlands Demy de Zeeuw is kicked in the face by Uruguay's Martin Cáceres during World Cup semi-final, Cape Town, 6 July
2. Gustavo Cuevas, Spain, EFE
   Matador Julio Aparicio is wounded by a bull, Madrid, 21 May
3. Steve Christo, Australia, Sydney Morning Herald
   The Cole Classic ocean racing competition, Manly Beach, Australia, 7 February

SPORTS STORIES

1. Adam Pretty, Australia, Getty Images
   Sports portfolio
2. Tomasz Gudzowaty, Poland, Yours Gallery
   Mexico's Car Frenzy
3. Chris Keulen, the Netherlands, Panos Pictures for Geo
   Tour of Eritrea

CONTEMPORARY ISSUES SINGLES

1. Marco Di Lauro, Italy, Reportage by Getty Images
   Food crisis in Niger: meat and offal for sale, Gadabedji, Niger, July
2. Ed Kashi, USA, VII Photo Agency
   Nguyen Thi Ly, 9, suffers from Agent Orange disabilities, Da Nang, Vietnam
3. Ivo Saglietti, Italy, Prospekt
   Relatives at Potocari Memorial, Srebrenica, Bosnia, 11 July

CONTEMPORARY ISSUES STORIES

1. Ed Ou, Canada, Reportage by Getty Images
   Escape from Somalia, March
2. Darcy Padilla, USA, Redux Pictures
   The Julie Project, 1993-2010
3. Sarah Elliott, USA
   Illegal abortions in Ribera, Kenya

   Honorable mention
   Michael Wolf, Germany, Laif Photos & Reportagen
   A Series of Unfortunate Events, Google Street View

DAILY LIFE SINGLES

1. Omar Feisal, Somalia, for Reuters
   Man carries a shark through the streets of Mogadishu, Somalia, 23 September
2. Malte Jäger, Germany, Laif Photos & Reportagen
   CouchSurfers in a Brooklyn loft, New York
3. Andrew Biraj, Bangladesh, Reuters
   Overcrowded train approaches station, Dhaka, Bangladesh

DAILY LIFE STORIES

1. Martin Roemers, the Netherlands, Panos Pictures
   Metropolis
2. Fernando Moleres, Spain
   Juveniles in prison, Sierra Leone
3. Mads Nissen, Denmark, Berlingske
   In the Name of Victoria

PORTRAITS SINGLES

1. Jodi Bieber, South Africa, Institute for Artist Management for Time magazine
   Bibi Aisha, disfigured as punishment for fleeing her husband's house, Kabul, Afghanistan
2. Joost van den Broek, the Netherlands, de Volkskrant
   Kirill Lewerski, cadet on Russian tall ship Kruzenshtern
3. Guillem Valle, Spain
   A Dinka man in front of his home, Akkach, Southern Sudan

PORTRAITS STORIES

1. Andrew McConnell, Ireland, Panos Pictures
   "The Last Colony", Western Sahara
2. Wolfram Hahn, Germany
   Self-portraits for social networks
3. Kenneth O'Halloran, Ireland
   Fairground public, Ireland

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT SINGLES

1. Andrew McConnell, Ireland, Panos Pictures for Der Spiegel
   Josephine Mpongo practices the cello, Kinshasa, DR Congo
2. Davide Monteleone, Italy, Contrasto for The New York Times Style Magazine
   Milan Fashion Week: Valeria Marini show
3. Fabio Cuttica, Italy, Contrasto
   Narco Cinema: Fabian Lopez on the set of the film El Baleado 2, Tijuana, Mexico

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT STORIES

1. Amit Madheshiya, India
   Night screenings at traveling cinema, India
2. Daniele Tamagni, Italy
   The Flying Cholitas, Bolivia
3. Amit Sha'al, Israel, Calcalist
   "Altneuland", Israel

NATURE SINGLES

1. Thomas P. Peschak , Germany, Save our Seas Foundation
   Cape Gannet comes to land, Malgas Island, South Africa
2. Reinhard Dirscherl, Germany
   Atlantic sailfish attack Spanish sardines, off Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico
3. Olivier Grunewald, France, for Le Figaro Magazine
   Volcano Nyiragongo lava lake, DR Congo

NATURE STORIES

1. Benjamin Lowy, USA, Reportage by Getty Images for GQ
   Gulf of Mexico oil spill
2. Stefano Unterthiner, Italy, for National Geographic magazine
   Whooper Swans
3. Christophe Archambault, France, Agence France-Presse
   Mount Bromo volcano erupts, East Java, Indonesia

The members of the 2011 jury were:

• Chair: David Burnett, USA, photojournalist and foundering member of Contact Press Images
• Members:
  • Abir Abdullah, Bangladesh, photographer EPA and Vice Principal - Pathshala South Asian Media Academy
  • Vince Aletti, USA, freelance critic  
    
  • Marizilda Cruppe, Brazil, photographer - O Globo/Eve Photographers
  • Ruth Eichhorn, Germany, Director of Photography - GEO
  • Renata Ferri, Italy, Photo Editor Io Donna - Corriere Della Sera
    
  • Heinz Kluetmeier, USA, photographer - Sports Illustrated  
    
  • Wim Melis, The Netherlands, Curator - Noorderlicht
    
  • Aidan Sullivan, UK, Vice President Photo Assignments - Getty Images
• Secretaries:
  • Daphné Anglès, France/USA, European Picture Co-ordinator - The New York Times
  • Stephen Mayes, UK, Managing Director - VII Photo Agency

For the second year running specialist juries took part in the initial rounds of judging for the Sports, Nature, and Portraits and News & documentary categories. The members of the specialist juries were:

• Sports:
  • Koji Aoki, Japan, Chief Photographer - Aflo Sport/Aflo Dite and president Aflo Co., Ltd.
  • Giovanna Calvenzi, Italy, Picture Editor - Sportweek/La Gazetta dello Sport
  • Heinz Kluetmeier, USA, photographer - Sports Illustrated
• Nature:
  • Ruth Eichhorn, Germany, Director of Photography - GEO
  • Mattias Klum, Sweden, photographer and filmmaker
  • Sophie Stafford, UK, Editor - BBC Wildlife Magazine
• Portraits:
  • Vince Aletti, USA, freelance critic
  • Harry Borden, UK, photographer
  • Terence Pepper, UK, Curator of Photographs - National Portrait Gallery
• News & documentary:
  • Peter Bialobrzeski, Germany, artist
  • David Burnett, USA, photojournalist and founding member Contact Press Images
  • Héric Libong, Cameroon, Head of Photo Department - Panapress
  • Enric Martí, Spain, Regional Editor AP for Latin America and Caribbean
  • Sujong Song, South Korea, independent curator and photo editor