Samuel Aranda—The New York Times via Reuters
A woman holds a wounded relative in her arms, inside a mosque used as a field hospital by demonstrators against the rule of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, during clashes in Sanaa, Yemen on 15 October 2011.
Today the winners of the prestigious 55th annual World Press Photo competition were announced in Amsterdam naming Samuel Aranda from Spain as the World Press Photo of the Year 2011.
"They called me yesterday around 7pm, and told me that I had won the World Press Photo," Samuel Aranda tells BJP in his first interview of the day. "At that exact moment, I was checking my bank account because I didn't know how I was going to pay my rent this month. I was crunching numbers to make it work."
World Press Photo: "It was about the people," says jury chair Aidan Sullivan
Jury chair Aidan Sullivan speaks about the winning image by Spanish photographer Samuel Aranda
World Press Photo: Does the winning image reference Michelangelo's Pietà ?
Analysis: Yet, in spite of the strong islamist connotations of the full veil, I cannot help but be reminded of the Christian iconography of the Pieta in which the Virgin Mary holds the body of Jesus after his death
View the entire collection of winning images from the 55th World Press Photo Contest
By the numbers: 5, 247 Photographers, 124 Nationalities, 101, 254 pictures. Three hundred and fifty images by 57 photographers of 24 nationalities were awarded prizes in nine categories
World Press Photo: What was missing for this year's entries? (For one, Occupy was not represented in this year's entries)
"My photo history class (at art history department) is going to hear all about the (ab)use of the pieta in their next class." "OK, I'm just going to say it: It might be time for an alternative to World Press Photo. Bc you know, I mean, come on!" http://twitter.com/jmcolberg
The most unforgettable images of the year / Best photographs of 2011
